


Raptors Out of Containment

by allonsysilvertongue



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dinosaurs, F/M, Hayffie AU, Jurassic World AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 11:23:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 47,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4177935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allonsysilvertongue/pseuds/allonsysilvertongue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There's a solid idea here, don't you see it? Dinosaurs! A pinnacle breakthrough of our generation! We will be remembered for this." </p><p>Seven years after the war, the newest attraction in Panem could very well be one of the most dangerous in the country's history. </p><p>Post Mockingjay. Jurassic World AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My childhood obsession for Dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park franchise has returned full force thanks so much to Jurassic World (if you haven't watch it, you totally need to) and so, what better way to than to combine the two things I love - JP & Hayffie - then to write a Jurassic World AU. I'm a bit nervous about this so I hope you guys like it.
> 
> This takes place after the events in Mockingjay, so whatever happened in the books/movies actually happened and then there's this.

In the course of Panem's history, the loss of human lives were the results of human mistakes and ego; the social disparity and the Capitol's oppressive power led to the first Rebellion, followed by the Dark Days which gave rise to the Games; and from that, it spawned off the second Rebellion seventy-five years later.

President Paylor's first mistake after being appointed president was in allowing the Muttations Genetics Incorporation to continue running and not shutting them down. There was no more civil war and there were no more Games. There was no need for mutts but President Paylor erred on the side of caution.

The mutts were deployed solely to maintain the fragile peace immediately following the fall of President Snow and President Coin. Others were later created with heightened olfactory senses which would allow them to sniff out drugs and morphlings, while others were sent to patrol the borders and secure the hard won peace. The mutts were kept clear and separated from humans, and they were only handled by highly trained personnel.

Things proceeded smoothly on that front but in the aftermath of the Rebellion, the governing body was more concerned with rehousing displaced citizens and ensuring that there was enough food and water distributed to all the districts. The Muttations Genetics Corporation was thus allowed to work undeterred and unchecked with monthly budget from the government, and major scientific discovery grew from it.

Plutarch Heavensbee, the Secretary of Communications, through his connections came across one of the discovery and saw an opportunity. He wasted no time in seizing it and developing it further.

XxX

"A park, yes," Plutarch nodded enthusiastically. "It makes sense. The mutts are already housed at the forest due to the lack of space in the city. We just need to make it more  _presentable_."

Effie tilted her head, a thoughtful look on her face. "They're not exactly mutts, are they? I read the reports, Plutarch. These… creatures are the results of cloning from preserved DNA that was unearthed during the war. For all intents and purposes, they're animals; animals that unlike the mutts we've seen, cannot be controlled."

"Technicalities," Plutarch waved her concerns off. "I have the funds, money from before the war that remained untouched. I have the means to develop the park. I will patent the idea."

Next to her, Fulvia shifted. Effie's eyes darkened at the news that Plutarch was living comfortably. The war had changed their lifestyles. Fulvia, just like Effie, returned to the Capitol to find their homes and belongings destroyed. Unlike a Gamemaker, Effie did not earn that much and whatever savings she had, was utilised to get a roof over her head and to feed herself. The lack of financial means was how she ended working  _for_  Plutarch in the first place.

Deciding that there was no point in discussing Plutarch's good fortune after the war, Effie focused on the meeting at hand.

"This park will be opened to the general public?" Effie queried, tapping the pen against her lower lip.

"Eventually, yes, that's the aim. It's an attraction park, the first of its kind in Panem! Think about how it will boost our country's economy. It'll create job opportunities," Plutarch went on. He looked ready to burst at the seam from excitement. "It's been four years after the war and unemployment is still at an all-time high. Our country needs it."

"What about the President? Do you think she will endorse this?" Fulvia asked.

"Oh, not to worry," Plutarch laughed jovially. "We're not tapping into the Government's reserve; we're not chipping into their budgets. It will be on my account and I will spare no expense in the building of this park - I am certain that the revenues will more than cover the cost – and like I've said, the prospect of job opportunities will sway the President. She cares deeply about her people and she would loathe seeing them unemployed without means to provide for their family."

"You have a valid point," Fulvia concurred, "but what about the dangers these mutts will pose?"

 _Animals,_ Effie corrected silently but nodded in agreement nonetheless because she had seen the pictures and safety was the first thing that crossed her mind.

Plutarch propped his hand on his hip and regarded them seriously. "I've been told by Dr. Henry Wu, the geneticist of MGI, that the carnivores could pose a threat, yes. But the herbivores on the other hand… There's a solid idea here, don't you see it?  _Dinosaurs_ ," he exclaimed, using the term for the first time in their discussion, "a pinnacle breakthrough of our generation! We will be remembered for this! Besides, after all the things we've done to the children in this country, perhaps this is a good way to atone for it; to give the children some joy."

Effie bristled at the mention of the Games and their direct involvement in it. She had never forgotten, of course, and she still woke up on most nights feeling guilty. It was her cross to bear but the flippant way Plutarch said it felt twisted.

"I'm – I'm not sure, Plutarch," Effie hesitated. "These animals were probably extinct for a good reason but now these people have meddled with…" she took a deep breath. "It goes against nature."

She was beginning to sound like Haymitch. She supposed this was what years of working with that man had done to her. Haymitch had expressed his disdain for plastic surgeries and breast enhancement, claiming none of it was natural. She agreed though she had never said it out loud and had refused her mother time and time again when the topic of surgical enhancement came up.

"Oh, Effie, Effie, Effie," Plutarch sighed and shook his head. "You worry too much, my dear. It will be perfectly safe. There will be measures put into place, of course. This will be a success, just you watch! Talk to her, Fulvia, please."

Fulvia swivelled around in her chair and turned towards Effie.

"Maybe he has a point, I don't know. Maybe it will be a success, maybe not. But the people in this country have seen enough death and destruction. We can show them the creation of life. The park could just be the kind of moral boost this country need, something good for them. It will be worth a try. We have to give them – what's the word? –  _hope_. Besides, isn't it our job to entertain?"

It was true – it was her job to provide a distraction and to entertain. She was good at it; having brainstormed several different programmes that turned out to be a success. Those programmed distracted people from the aftermath of a war and for half an hour each day, those programmes entertained people.

She had been doing this for four years and perhaps a change of scenery was in order. She wondered what Haymitch would say when she told him. The forest was somewhere near District Twelve and if she had to work at the park, it would bring her closer to him certainly. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea….

"This will be a classified project until further notice. That means nobody is to know, not even Haymitch," Plutarch smiled at her as if he had read her thoughts. "I know how you share things with him, Effie."

'Until further notice' turned out to be three years later. The approvals were sought; the necessary paper work was completed; the animals were allowed time to grow – she heard the growth was accelerated through some gene, she wasn't clear on the science of it - and the park was built. Even though the entire project did not sit well with her initially, Effie had three years to warm up to the idea. Plutarch, as if sensing her hesitation and to truly convince her to be on his side, gave her a promotion of sort. Effie Trinket was to be the park's operations manager when it opened.

As agreed by her terms, she was not allowed to speak about any of it to Haymitch or to the children. Each time she visited them, she had to physically bite her tongue from sharing the news. She wanted Haymitch's opinion on it but deep down, she knew he wouldn't have supported it. Haymitch bore a deep mistrust for anything associated with the MGI.

Her monthly visits increased in frequency and she was at Victor's Village every two weeks now. When she was asked, she merely smiled and said that she missed them dearly, which was partly true. What she left out was the visits she was making to the park with Plutarch and the rest of the team. It was usually only after her trip to the park that she would drop by to stay for a day or two with Haymitch in Twelve.

"You look awfully tired, sweetheart," Haymitch said one night during one of her visits.

He wrapped his arms around her, hooked a leg between hers, buried his nose in her hair and inhaled the sweet smell. Her frequent visits meant that he was used to having her around and he was growing reluctant to watch her leave each time.

"It's just work."

"Plutarch's either working you to your death or you work too hard. What's the point?"

"I can't afford to laze around all day like you do," she teased, snuggling into him.

"You can," he ran his fingers through her hair. "You just won't. Never seen you sit still for too long."

XxX

The electrical fence of District Twelve was taken down after the war. No one was happier about it than Katniss was. She ventured into the woods as and when she pleased, to clear her mind and to escape, at times.

What nobody in Twelve knew was that further and deeper into the forest, quite a distance away from the general population, a sturdy, heavy steel fence was erected. It was unlike the flimsy ones that used to surround their district. This fence was alive and buzzing with electrical currents and an ominous sign that read "Danger – High Voltage".

 _Lethal,_  Katniss thought when she ventured further into the forest than she ever did one afternoon after a particular bad episode with Peeta. She came across the fence and inspected the area, curious and certain that this addition was new.  _And a final line of defence for whatever's behind that wall._

The wall, located a few metres behind the fence, was about twenty feet high, stretching as far as the eyes could see. It was meant to keep whatever was inside from going into the populated area.

"It's probably none of our concern," Haymitch shrugged, adopting an air of nonchalance when Katniss told him about.

"You said to mind my own business when I told you about District Thirteen. You knew all along that Thirteen existed," Katniss narrowed her eyes at him. "You know something I don't?"

"No," Haymitch caught her eyes and the seriousness in his tone must have convinced her.

"It was never there before, I'm sure of it. Everything looks new; the fence, the walls. There must be something in it, Haymitch. Why all the security?"

"Maybe something dangerous they want to keep secure so it's good that there are electrical fences 'round that part of the forest," Haymitch waved her concerns away. "Don't you have other things to worry your pretty head about, sweetheart?"

Despite telling Katniss not to worry, Haymitch's curiousity was piqued. He had spent the better part of his life in the Games and planning a Rebellion, and now that there was finally some peace and quiet, he wasn't about to let it be ruined by whatever dangerous thing – because he was certain it was nothing good – that was hidden from their knowledge.

The very next day, Haymitch called Effie to ask if she knew anything about the walls and the fences, and why the forest was cleared away. She lived in the City and worked with the Government. If anyone's heard of something, she would be one of those.

"Oh, yes," she told him. "Something exciting is coming. You will know it soon. I can't divulge any information but we've started filming for marketing purposes and promotions, so you will know  _very_ soon, Haymitch."

"You know I don't like surprises, sweetheart. What's behind the wall? Why all the security?"

"Only the most incredible of things, Haymitch," she gushed. "The MGI has –"

"The MGI?" he interrupted her, slightly alarmed. "We're talkin' about the very same damn organisation that created  _mutts_?"

"Yes, but really, Haymitch, I've been assured that –"

"I don't care what they've been telling you. You didn't tell  _me_  you were working with the MGI. Effie, nothing the MGI ever created has ever been –"

"I couldn't. It was part of the terms and besides, even if I could, this is exactly how you would react. You don't even know what's in there but you'll stop me from working. I know you're worried about me, but there's nothing for you to be concerned about. Believe me. Really. Plutarch will tell you the same."

"Plutarch," he scoffed. "Plutarch on his own is already bad enough, sweetheart. But Plutarch with the MGI? That sounds like a disaster in the making."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plutarch's "spare no expense" was a line I borrowed from John Hammond in Jurassic Park and so is the character Henry Wu because dinosaurs won't be possible without him so s/o to Henry Wu!
> 
> I really, really hope you liked what you read and you're interested! Please let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

** Part 2 **

Haymitch woke up to kisses; soft lips working its way from his mouth to his neck. He basked in the warmth radiating from the spots where they had touched. He was very aware of the body pressing and rubbing against him, knowing it would wake not only him but other parts of him.

 _Minx_ , he thought.

Every bit about the touch felt familiar, from the soft caresses to the sweet smell of lavender body wash which was why he felt himself relaxing instead of reaching out for his knife.

"You're slipping," she whispered, brushing his hair back from his face. "You didn't even hear me coming in. I could have been a robber."

He cracked his eyes open to look at her, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"Robbers won't have the keys to my house," he murmured. His had drifted to her hips and pulled her closer, kissing her lazily. He liked being woken up this way, he liked it a lot. "When did you get in?"

"Just," she said and stretched out next to him on the threadbare sofa. "You have a bed, you know, a king-size bed," she reminded.

"Too big without you," he answered without a thought. He wasn't fully awake and Effie liked him this way; he was less guarded. "Are you supposed to be here today? Don't remember you sayin' you were coming."

"Plutarch has given me the Friday off and I wanted to be here with you during the weekend."

He arched an eyebrow not that she noticed with her head pillowed on his chest. "Why is he so generous?"

"Because today's the day - there'll be a big, _big_ announcement coming up. I want to be here with you when you see it _and_ there’s something I have to tell you about my career plans."

His breath hitched and his heart sank a little. Effie was always full of plans, always had something to occupy her especially after the Rebellion. If she stops, she would start thinking and she didn't want that. It was something she told him years ago.

So she planned her days, her weeks and her months, if she could, and he was here. He was always here while she was out there doing ... _things._ Granted, she visited him and tried to spend her weekends with him, and where she was concern, he would take what he can get but he'd like to _keep_ her where he was. He had been entertaining that thought more often than not lately, and he wondered if she knew.

"I don't like surprises," he grumbled, playing with the ends of her hair. "Especially since last I heard, the MGI was involved."

"The MGI is just a very small part of it. This is bigger. I'm very excited about this news, Haymitch. Don't worry," she patted his chest in a comforting gesture. "It's good news."

"Yeah? For you or for me?"

"For us," her eyes twinkled when she raised her head to look at him.

 _For us…_ Her words echoed in his mind. Haymitch felt himself relaxed slightly. Whatever her decision about her career was, she had included him in it, and it gave him a strange sort of feeling.

Effie stretched to plant a kiss which he tried to deepen rather unsuccessfully because she ducked her head and escaped towards the kitchen, laughing.

"I really hope it'll make you happy, Haymitch, and that you'll be happy for me. Coffee?"

He didn't bother answering. She would brew coffee and breakfast to go with it whether he asked of her or not. Haymitch felt for the cushion that had fallen to the floor some time during the night and covered his face with it. When Effie emerged from the kitchen with two cups of coffee and slightly burnt toasts, Haymitch had fallen asleep again.

XxX

"It's nearly time," she thrilled excitedly. "Call the kids, let them know! I don't want them to miss this."

Haymitch rolled his eyes but dutifully did as he was told.

"Plant your asses in front your TV - thing's coming on in five minutes apparently," he spoke to Katniss on the phone.

"Language," she chided.

Except for mandatory viewing, his television was hardly ever switched on before the Rebellion but it was being put to frequent use lately because of Effie. She would host some shows or produce a program which she wanted him to see and it wasn't like he had much things to occupy his days with. Effie knew that which meant that he didn't have many excuses not to watch. Really, though, he was proud of her and what she had accomplished, not that he would tell her. It would get to her head and that he would not have.

Haymitch lounged on the sofa, legs propped on his coffee table, twirling his glass of whiskey. Effie curled up next to him, a hand thrown carelessly around his mid-section. Her body thrummed with barely contained excitement.

He stroked her arms. "Calm down, you’re going to - "

Haymitch stared at the screen as a circular logo with the skeletal outline of a menacing beast with sharp claws to boot flashed on his television. He had never seen anything like it before.

His astonishment quickly gave way to horror as he watched Plutarch unveiled the newest “entertainment sensation” to the rest of the country.

“ _… a family fun park for all ages! With major attractions ….”_

Haymitch tuned out the rest of it. He was looking at Effie sitting next to him with her hands clasped together under her chin and a broad smile on her face, mouthing verbatim the words of the advertisement.

It felt wrong. It felt like ten years ago during the 74th Reaping, watching her on stage as she repeated after President Snow.

Haymitch picked up random words but one stood out rather prominently. _Dinosaurs,_ he repeated it, trying to wrap his head around it and at the same time, trying to figure out why it sounded familiar.

“We’ve last seen them 65 million years ago but with the technologies available to our brilliant scientists at the Muttations Genetics Incorporation, cloning is now …”

The horror was growing inside of him by the minute. He wasn’t sure which was worse, designing mutts or successfully cloning extinct animals.

 _Extinct,_ he frowned and then he sat straighter.

He knew why _dinosaurs_ sounded familiar. The last he had heard of them was years ago while he was still a boy learning about the earth’s geological time scale. He remembered pulling the braids of the girl sitting in front of him to annoy her only to stop abruptly because his teacher was talking about these strange animals that existed during the Triassic-Jurassic time period, a time period he had never even heard of.  It intrigued him.

For weeks, he was fascinated by it but the Seam forced him to grow up and the interest tapered off. There were more pressing issues to worry about than to spend his time thinking about dinosaurs.

Haymitch waited to see if his childhood fascination would return but all he felt was a sense of dread and his gut feeling was seldom wrong.

“What the fuck were they thinkin’ making things like that?” Haymitch spoke up for the first time.

Effie was startled and taken aback by his outbursts.

“Aren’t they magnificent?” she recovered and beamed at him. “Didn’t I tell you? It’s just the most amazing thing! I was sceptical, yes, when Plutarch first brought the idea to the table but I’m confident about this, Haymitch, absolutely confident.”

He wasn’t.

He hated anything and everything the MGI created. In his experience, none of them had ever been good. They were vicious, killing machines. The MGI was responsible for the bright pink birds that killed Maysilee - when he saw the pteranodon from the park with their sharp long beaks, his blood ran cold – and they had engineered the wolf mutts for the 74th Games, not to mention the countless of tributes that fell victim to the MGI’s designs or _Finnick_. Had Plutarch and Effie forgotten what those lizard mutts did to Finnick?

“Oh, watch this,” Effie tapped his arm repeatedly to get his attention. “You don’t want to miss me.”

The camera had a long shot of a woman in the distance and it slowly zoomed in to reveal Effie standing at the park’s entrance in her business suit.

 _“Welcome to Jurassic World,”_ she looked straight at the camera and an inviting smile spread across her face. The camera lingered on her face before it zoomed out to take a panoramic view of the entire park with Effie’s voice over saying, _“Jurassic World opens to the public in two weeks so book your tickets now for an amazing adventure 65 million years in the making!”_

When that was over and the regularly scheduled programming returned, Haymitch turned off the television. Effie turned sideways to look at him expectantly.

“What were you thinking, Effie?”

Effie faltered. “What – What do you mean?”

“Plutarch’s gone and put everything the MGI engineered into one damn place – a _park_ – and … It’s dangerous,” he hissed. "Those are mutts that they've made!"

“They weren’t engineered; they weren't _made_ or mutated the way you think they are. The MGI has done something very different this time. Haymitch, they were clone - a few species at a time - and then allowed to grow _._ It's a very complicated process," Effie tried to explain. "I've seen a triceratops hatched from its egg; I've held the baby in my hand. They say triceratopses are tameable and they are. Baby Bop is my favourite - She's still an infant.”

“ _Baby Bop,"_ Haymitch scoffed. "You named it. And that's a ridiculous name, by the way," he said just to spite her.

"Well.... Don't be rude! Wouldn't you name a dinosaur if you were given a chance?"

"Listen to yourself," Haymitch scowled. "It's a dinosaur, not a kitten. If you want to tame something, just tell me, I'll get you your damn kitten or better yet, you can tame my geese - that'll give you a challenge. You like a challenge, don't you, sweetheart?"

"You're being difficult on purpose!"

"No, I'm not."

"You are," she crossed her arms.

"No.”

“Yes.”

“No, I'm - whatever," he said abruptly before their argument could derail into something absolutely childish "I don’t like it. I don’t like _you_ working so closely with these… creatures.”

"They're animals - not mutts - just like your geese," Effie cupped his cheek, her thumb grazing against his rough stubble. He wanted to argue about her comparing dinosaurs to his geese but that would only make things worse. “You don’t have to like it. This is my job now. I just need you to be supportive of me. We’re a team, aren’t we?”

“You kept this from me for three years, sweetheart," he muttered with a hint of accusation. "This is the career plan you wanted to tell me, yeah?”

“It was all hush-hush,” Effie said in her defense. “But yes, Plutarch appointed me as the operations manager three years ago. I’ve been bursting to tell you this news, I really wanted to, but I had to keep it to myself. It was so difficult, Haymitch, but it’s out at last and I’m _really_ excited about this. Please, don’t spoil this for me.”

Haymitch sighed. He rested his hand at the back of her head and stroked the nape of her neck repetitively before he leaned forward to capture her lips.

“I don’t like it,” he repeated, “but I ain’t gonna stop you. You're stubborn as hell and there's no changing your mind. You sure it's safe?"

"Absolutely," she nodded. “All the dinosaurs at Jurassic World are herbivores, Haymitch. I’m not a food source and neither are the visitors. I know the logo looks spooky – Plutarch insisted on it and I was outvoted, _again_ – but the park’s intention is not to scare people. Does that make you feel better?”

Haymitch considered that for a second before he relented. "You be careful – that’s all I’m asking.”

“I spend most of my time in the control room which is nowhere near the dinosaurs, unless, of course when I feel like visiting Baby Bop, then I might take a stroll,” she grinned.

He glared at how lightly she was taking this but she kissed him, sweet and tender, drawing the kiss out for as long as possible.

“I’m moving in,” she whispered in between kisses.

Haymitch pulled back slightly to look at her, wondering if he had misheard her. “What?”

“I’m moving in with you. You asked me to stay once and that’s what I’m doing - I’m staying.”

“Because of your job,” he frowned.

“No,” she shook her head, laughing at his slighted expression. “I took the job because it will bring _me_ closer to _you_.”

If having the park around meant having Effie moving in, then he decided that he could learn to deal with the park’s existence. It was not like he had to visit it.

“I guess –“

Effie didn’t let him finish. She hooked her leg over to straddle him and went back to the task of kissing him. He knew all too well what she was doing. She was trying to distract him and it was working in her favour. She made quick work of his shirt and his pants. His hand slipped eagerly beneath her top, feeling her warm skin and squeezing her breast. Soon, the only sound that could be heard in the house was their laboured breathing and heavy panting.

XxX

"Those dino... dinosaurs are just miles away from our district," Katniss pointed out uneasily during one of the TV spots to promote the park.

Peeta's eyes were riveted on screen. "They look harmless enough. Huge, but harmless," he tried to placate her, pointing to the long neck creature Plutarch had just identified as a Brachiosaurus.

"Don't let looks deceive you," Haymitch muttered, spooning mashed potatoes on to his plate.

"Hush now, Haymitch. They're really harmless," Effie smiled. "They're just walking around most of the time."

"How'd you know since you spend most of your time in the control room?" Haymitch retorted.

She glared at him and hissed, "Don't make me banish you to the sofa tonight."

"It's _my_ house, you don't get to -"

"Pie?" Katniss stood up abruptly and disappeared into the kitchen even though none of them had finished their main course yet.

The promotions for Jurassic World were aggressive with countless TV spots frequently coming on multiple times a day on the airwaves. There was also a shot of Effie in front of the small motel at District Twelve - Haymitch had no idea when that was filmed but apparently, months ago - to promote the lodging as one of the partners of Jurassic World. There would be accommodations in the park itself but the motel in Twelve would be available for those who would like to opt for a cheaper alternative.

"See, we're trying to help boost the economy in Twelve where we can," Effie told him one night.

"Hmph."

Effie's stress level skyrocketed as the opening date drew closer. She shared her fears and her worries with him, talking his ears off.

"I don't know why you're worrying so much," he rolled his eyes. "I may not like what you do but you're gonna be great, sweetheart. You've got this under control. Let's not pretend that you're not amazing when you put your mind to - umph."

She crashed her mouth to his and dragged him to bed where she kept him busy for the next hour or so. By the time she was done and she rolled off him, Haymitch decided that if she wanted him to be supportive of her than he would be just that. He'd be _very_ supportive because the rewards were worth it.

XxX

With the park's opening, they fell into a routine and learnt to keep to it.

She would wake up in the morning and rouse him at the same time much to his annoyance. They would have breakfast together at Effie's insistence because according to her, they were living _together_ not for her to babysit him and leave him food on the table. It all felt very domestic but strangely, he didn't mind it as much. In fact, he thought he had earned it.

Haymitch walked with her to the edge of the meadow one morning on the first day of the park's official opening and it soon became a daily occurrence. He would wait with her until the hovercraft arrived to take her to work and he never failed to tease her about making an entrance at work.

"You know you could simply take a car like every other normal person?"

"The car would have to pass by the main park. The hovercraft on the other hand will take me directly to the Control Centre."

That morning was no different. Haymitch sat on the boulder, watching the sky and listening for the tell-tale sound of the hovercraft engine.

"He's late," Effie pursed her lips. She adjusted her skirt. Haymitch watched her fingers with its perfectly manicured bright red painted nails danced on her head as she patted her hair. "How do I look?"

Haymitch tore his gaze away and barely glanced in her direction when he answered, "Good."

Effie huffed at his lacklustre answer. "Are you sure you don't want to come along, Haymitch?"

"Positive."

"I can give you a tour."

"Will there be sex involved in this tour? In some dark corners, perhaps?" he smirked.

"You're an animal," she shook her head just as the hovercraft came into view. Effie stood in front of him and in her heels Haymitch had to look up from where he was sitting. “You’ll visit one day, won’t you?”

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I'm not in a hurry to be in the presence of genetically engineered animals. Now go."

She knew not to press the issue so Effie stooped down to kiss him. "I'll see you tonight!"

XxX

Time flew without any of them realising and within a blink of an eye, the first month was over. Jurassic World proved to be successful although in Haymitch's opinion, it was still too early to tell. Effie was ecstatic as was Plutarch.

The only person with a long face was Haymitch. Effie was constantly being taken away from him even on her off days to give interviews about the park and its success. She tried to soothe him, telling him that it would get better soon but that she needed to do this now to get as much publicity for the park as she could.

Even at home, the park was never far from her mind. She talked constantly about it, throwing ideas at him on how to make it more interesting and more attractive as if dinosaurs weren't enough of an attraction already.

"I've been seeing little children reaching out, trying to touch the exhibits although I don't know why anyone would want to touch them - "

Effie tilted her head to grant him access to her neck. Haymitch sucked on the soft skin of her neck, intending to leave a mark and all she did was run her fingers through his hair absentmindedly.

" - but I've seen it happened a few times through my monitors. So, perhaps, a petting area with juvenile exhibits would be a good idea. I should bring this up at the next meeting. What do you -"

"Can't you shut up for ten minutes?" Haymitch interrupted with a low, frustrated growl. "I finally get you in bed and I just want to..." he heaved a breath. "Forget it."

Haymitch pushed himself off her and flopped down on his back. He covered his eyes with his arm and ignored her.

Effie stared at him. As if realising her mistake, she moved, lying half sprawled on his chest. "I'm sorry, Haymitch," she kissed him. "I just.. I got carried away."

He didn't react. He didn't even kiss her back so she tugged his arm away and peppered kisses all over his face.

"You're annoying," he mumbled when she took his hand and guided it in between her thighs, trying to get him back in the mood. He opened his eyes to see her kneeling over him. "No talk about your damn park at night. _Especially_ when we're in bed."

"You're bossier than ever. I must have rubbed off on you," she grinned, nibbling on his earlobe. "But if that's what you want, then at night, I'm all yours."

“Damn right you’re mine,” he growled, flipping her over so he was back on top. "I'm gonna make you forget all about your dinosaurs."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \---
> 
> Baby Bop is the name of the green dinosaur from Barney & Friends. She's a triceratops and I couldn't pass up the chance! And “an adventure 65 million years in the making” is the tag line for Jurassic Park if I’m not wrong. I remember seeing it at the Jurassic Park in Universal Studios Singapore when I went last week.
> 
> A/N: This chapter sort of grew on its own which is why it turned out longer than expected. So I hope you enjoyed that long chapter filled with a lot of Hayffie fluff before things start to go wrong with the park ;)
> 
> Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!


	3. Chapter 3

** 3 **

On his way to answer the phone that morning, Haymitch passed by the kitchen only to pause when he saw Effie brewing tea and humming a song under her breath.

He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed in front of his chest, watching her quietly and very much ignoring the incessant ringing of the house phone. Effie was still dressed in the clothes she went to sleep the night before - a nightgown that barely covered her mid-thighs - which was surprising because at this time, she would usually already be dressed for work. His eyes trailed over the pair of long legs appreciatively. As if sensing his presence, she turned, throwing him a sweet smile over her shoulder. He licked his lips and winked.

"Answer the phone," she laughed, licking her finger that was covered with maple syrup.

"You stay right there. I'm coming back for you. I've got plans with you on  _that_  counter," he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and disappeared from view.

From where she was in the kitchen, his voice could hardly be heard over the loud honking of the geese outside. Effie grabbed a saucer and stirred her tea while walking over to where Haymitch was.

"Yeah, sure, Annie. You can stay over, it's no problem," he shrugged even though Annie couldn't see that gesture through the phone. "I've got a spare room or you know, you can stay over at Peeta's. His house's mostly empty. There's no need for you to rent a room at the motel. What's the point? Effie and Peeta will insist anyway, you know they will. Don't make this difficult."

Effie ducked under his arm to stand between him and the wall. She held the cup of tea in front of her and blew on the hot beverage, listening in to the one-sided conversation.

"Listen, tell Finn, those dinosaurs ain't going nowhere," he gave an exasperated sigh but his hand was busy pulling the strap of Effie's nightgown down her shoulder. "Tell him there's no need to rush."

"I've got special passes," Effie mouthed, reminding him of it.

"Effie said she's got passes. She'll give them to you. Tell the boy to calm down, the tickets aren't sold out - he'll get in."

"For the express queue," Effie went on, batting his wandering hand away.

Haymitch rolled his eyes but dropped his hand. "For the express queue," he repeated the information, "so Finn doesn't have to waste his time queueing like other unworthy people for any of the attractions."

"Haymitch!" Effie hissed.

"Yeah, no, I ain't going. No, Annie, I'm -," he broke off when Johanna took the phone from Annie. "I'm not going; you're not dragging me into this. Nah, Jo, you're on your own with the kid on this. Nothin' you say will change my mind."

"You  _should_  go," Effie said loud enough that Johanna caught it on the other end of the line. She kissed the corner of his mouth. "You should go, Haymitch. It'll be fun! Like an outing."

Haymitch frowned because now she was being distracting on purpose. Effie had her hand looped around his waist. She was kissing his neck, grazing her teeth on the sensitive skin and licking it. He plucked the cup of tea out of her hand and gulped the contents down before it could splash on him.

"You know, you kissing me like that ain't gonna work," he mumbled and abruptly pulled the receiver from his ear when Johanna's "gross!" rang sharply in his ear.

He went back talking to Johanna even as Effie slid her hands under his shirt to let it roam across his back and his stomach, and tried hard not to focus on her warm hands against his skin.

"Katniss and Peeta has never been to the park, no. Don't think they're interested," he said. "Fine, I'll ask them anyway. Yeah, I'll see you in a few days."

He hung up and grabbed her hands only to place them on the waistband of his boxers. She tried to hide the smile on her face. When Effie glanced up, Haymitch was looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. It was a challenge and he wanted to see what her next move would be, although to Effie, his intention was clear. It was written all over his face.

"Will that convince you to join Finn?"

"You can try," he shrugged, nudging her to get a move on. "Isn't the boy too young to know what's going on in the park, anyway?"

"He's nearly eight, Haymitch," Effie pointed out. "He's old enough to appreciate what he'll see at the park, unlike you."

He elected to ignore the last bit. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for work?"

Effie wound her hands around his neck instead and his face fell when he realised she wouldn't be giving him what he wanted that morning, challenge or not.

"The park has been opened for a year now. Everything's running smoothly so I thought, one week off from work is in order," she grinned. "I intend to spend every minute with you and if you  _still_  complain that they're taking me away from you, then I don't know what to say. Honestly, I don't."

Haymitch smirked. He looked like a cat that got the cream. "This is the kind of surprises I like. I'm gonna keep you in bed all week," he promised.

"Now, Haymitch, don't be selfish. When I said, every minute, I don't mean  _every_  minute," she toyed with the button of his shirt. "I do intend to spend some time with the children and with Finn, Annie and Johanna when they're here."

XxX

The first night of their arrival, Peeta gathered everyone at Katniss' house for dinner. The kitchen was filled with Finn's excited chatter. Finn had always placed Johanna on the highest pedestal, followed by Haymitch. There was something about them that Finn looked up to but that night, all of his attention was on Effie and it made her feel warm on the inside.

"But what are they like? Are they very big? What kind of sounds do they make? Are they friendly?"

"You'll see," Effie beamed at him, finding his interest infectious. It made her feel proud of her work at Jurassic World. Katniss and Haymitch were not interested in the park while Peeta would listen politely but even Effie could tell it was difficult for him to accept that science managed to achieve the impossible, so this enthusiasm from Finn was a welcome break. "I don't want to spoil the surprise for you. But, oh! Now I really can't wait for you to visit the park tomorrow! I just can't wait to see the look on your face when you see your first dinosaur."

"I thought you're off from work," Haymitch frowned. "That means no park for a week."

"It doesn't mean I can't accompany them on their visit." Effie patted his knee, amused by his behaviour.

"Do I get to see Baby Bop?" Finn asked excitedly. "I kept all the pictures of her that you sent me! Can I touch her? Can I buy a triceratops, Aunt Effie? My friend got a puppy but I don't want a puppy. I want something like Baby Bop, that'll be so awesome!"

"You'll get to see her," Effie smiled. "And no, you definitely can _not_  buy a triceratops. They are not for sale."

"Why not?" Finn cocked his head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Well, for one, a baby dinosaur reaches its full adult size in say, four years and you don't have the kind of space in your house to keep a triceratops. Not to mention that they need special feeding. You can't just feed them anything you fancy. And thirdly, Finn, the production cost itself is about thousands and thousands of dollars, which means it's very expensive," Effie laughed.

He frowned, dissatisfied with the answer. "If you can make extinct animals, then why can't you make them  _smaller_?" he challenged. "Like, a cat or dog? Then people can buy them as pets and I get to have a dinosaur pet. Smaller dinosaur means it'll be cheaper?" he asked in all the innocence a child possessed.

Haymitch groaned loudly, clearly finding the idea unappealing. Effie was about to point out the fact that rearing geese as pet was hardly conventional but Finn's question had struck something in her. She looked at the child, mouth slightly agape.

Nobody had ever considered that line of thought but if it was possible, the money that they could reap from selling pet dinosaurs would be tremendous. If they could bring the idea with the Muttations Genetics Incorporation and see if it was possible for something smaller, then -

"Don't let Plutarch hear that," Haymitch waved his fork. "We don't want to give that man any ideas. He can be quite a dreamer. A  _pet_  dinosaur," Haymitch snorted. "Listen to that, Jo. When did this kid get so smart?"

Johanna shrugged but she turned to glare at Effie. "This is your fault. You know that, don't you, Trinket?"

"What is?" Effie frowned, wary of Johanna's outburst.

She liked Johanna, she did. Everyone on this table with the exception of Finn had gone through a lot together and they had survived despite the odds, and Effie was of the opinion that they should all stick together but Johanna's prone to needling her for her own amusement. At times, Effie found it exhausting.

"Kid's got dinosaurs on the brain. Wouldn't stop talking about it," Johanna scowled. "It drives me crazy."

"I  _don't_  have dinosaurs on my brain," Finn retorted. "I just read about them. It's educational."

"Educational…" Haymitch shook his head.

Katniss' eyes darted between the three of them, looking at Johanna, Effie and Finn in turn. "That's not a nice thing to say, Jo," Katniss rebuked.

From where he was sitting at the head of the dinner table, Peeta looked up to assess the situation, wondering if they were going to break into an argument in the middle of dinner. He slid the painting of a Brontosaurus that he had done with Finn that afternoon over to the boy for his safekeeping.

"I heard he love those dinosaurs but I didn't know he was  _obsessed_ with it," Haymitch muttered. "You got a thing for them, boy?"

Finn nodded enthusiastically, rolling the painting and keeping it in his bag pack. "I saw them on television when Uncle Plu and Aunt Effie first showed the Jurassic World to everyone last year. The advertisement? And they're  _so_  cool! I read all about 'em!"

"I bought him books, anything about dinosaurs that I could get my hands on," Annie spoke up finally. She smiled fondly at her son. "He's been asking to go to Jurassic World ever since it opened. Johanna finally agreed to take him, so here we are."

"More like, he wore me thin so I'm doing this to shut him up. We thought it'll wear off," Johanna rolled her eyes. "I sure as hell hope it'd wear off 'cause I wasn't going to go to an  _enclosed_ are to see giant animals that look like it could crush me to death in a stampede with nowhere to run."

"Hear, hear," Haymitch nodded, raising his glass of wine.

When Effie glared at him, he gave her a mocking smile. Johanna was more than happy to clink her glass with Haymitch's.

"Then there you were playing the role of an annoying distant aunt with cool gifts," she fixed Effie with a stare.

"If I didn't know better, Johanna, I'd say you're jealous," Effie couldn't help but make a gibe at her. She peered at the younger woman, "are you turning green? You are, aren't you?"

Haymitch snickered enjoying this banter far too much.

"You weren't making things better when you're sending him photos of that baby dinosaur and those damn merchandises from your damn park. You're fuelling things."

"First of all," Effie pursed her lips, "you really should watch your language when you're in the presence of a child. They pick up things and bad languages shouldn't be one of them. We don't want Finn to have a potty mouth. Secondly, those animals are  _not_  going to crush you to death. Don't be ridiculous. The probability of a stampede occurring is zero to none. Everything is under control. Stop being dramatic - you're worse than Haymitch."

"And lastly?" Haymitch asked. "There's always a third one with you."

"My third point is, if a child is interested in something, you should foster it, encourage it! Don't snub it out. And if none of you supports his love for dinosaurs, then at least he has me. I'm glad you're going Jurassic World, Finn," Effie patted the boy's arm. "I'll give you a  _very_  special tour."

"Alright, Trinket, since when are you an expert on child rearing?" Johanna taunted. "I think she's hinting something there, Haymitch. Why don't you put a bun in her oven?"

XxX

The storm raged outside, rain smattering against the window. The wind howled and a bolt of lightning sliced through the sky, lighting up the earth momentarily. The thunder sounded loud enough to crack the world in half and usually, Effie would have jumped in fright but not that morning.

Haymitch was doing a good job of distracting her.

At the moment, his tongue was trailing hot kisses down her stomach to circle her belly button. Effie giggled at the ticklish sensation and tried to push his head away.

"Stop it," she panted.

"You sure?" he smirked against her skin. "That wasn't what you said a few minutes ago."

"Yes. You need to stop. You can't afford a round two," she teased, eyes twinkling. "You can't."

"Pretty sure I can, sweetheart."

As if to prove his point, Haymitch covered her body with his and slid his hand between her thighs. If her moans and lack of protests were any indication, she very much wanted another round. It didn't take long before she was squirming and panting under his ministration. Her fingers gripped the sheet, hips bucking in response. When he had worked her to the edge, Haymitch pulled out his fingers and the low whine coming from her throat at the loss of contact made him chuckled. He spread her legs further and positioned himself.

That was when the phone rang, startling them both. They looked at each other.

"Don't you dare," he growled a warning. "Last I check it was seven in the morning and no one's got any business calling the house this early."

"Exactly," Effie tried to reason. "It could be important."

"But nothing's as important as what we're doing," he smirked - the same cocky smirk he gave when he needed to win someone over, usually sponsors - and after years, it still made her stomach flip.

"Someone should answer – "

He swallowed her words with a kiss and buried himself deep inside her. Her hands came up to wrap itself around him, bringing him closer to her. They moved against each other until the rain and phone call became the last thing in her mind.

He made her incoherent, mumbling his name and urging him on. He made her mad and aching with need, and he knew it, too. Effie clawed his back and he hissed at the pain but that only drove him to thrust into her faster.

When he finally rolled off her, tired and spent, Effie pulled the covers over them both and fell asleep, half-sprawled on his chest.

The geese squawking outside finally roused them from their slumber. Haymitch cracked an eye open to see the rain had long stopped and the sun was out.

 _Good_ , he thought to himself. Finn would be terribly disappointed if the undesirable weather prevented him from visiting Jurassic World and Haymitch didn't think he could deal with a kid's whining.

Haymitch sat up, listening intently. His geese had always been noisy but there was something different about it today. That was when he heard it. Blended in their honking was a high pitch screeching and …  _was that a growl?_

He threw the covers back, swung his legs from the bed and grabbed his knife from the bedside drawer.

"Where are you going?" Effie mumbled sleepily.

"Check on my geese, they're making a fucking racket out there. I thought I heard growling."

"Come back to bed," she tugged on his wrist.

"No, you wake up," he jostled her. "You're gonna complain about how you've wasted the day sleeping and frankly, sweetheart, I'd rather ration my liquor than sit through that. Come on, get up."

He pulled the covers and threw them on the floor. Effie curled in on herself and he dragged her by the ankle to the edge of the bed. She shrieked and tried to kick his hand away by which time she was already close enough for him to haul her up to her feet.

"Your geese are quiet now - we can go back to bed. I'm on leave, Haymitch," she pouted, "I'm allowed to be lazy once in a while."

He gasped, his eyes mocking her. "Effie Trinket… Lazy? This must be a dream."

Effie huffed and let him go, trailing after him slowly. She watched him leave through the back door in their kitchen to check on his geese. She had just put the kettle on the stove when she heard his loud cursing. Curious, Effie went outside.

"Stay back," his raised his hand to stop her. Effie stopped abruptly at the doorway with one foot out the door. She ignored him and took a step forward. "I told you to stay back. Get – Get inside! Fuck,  _fuck._ "

"Haymitch, what is the matter?" she asked, her voice shaking a little. He was scaring her.

"Get inside, Effie," he snapped. "Don't come out until I said you can."

"You're not making any sense!" she said, frustrated. Effie stepped outside and walked towards him. "What's the –"

Effie froze and gasped loudly at the sight in front of her. The metallic wire that made up the geese pen had been slashed and she could see pool of crimson liquid with white feathers drenched in them. The smell… The smell of blood made her gag. There was no terror in her only the overwhelming sense of shock. She let her feet carry her forward. She felt Haymitch grabbing her arm, trying to force her behind him but still she moved until she was standing directly in front of the pen, looking in.

Effie whimpered and covered her mouth.

His geese lay dead, some decapitated and others mangled. The eggs had been crushed and the yolk was oozing out of some of them.

Effie clutched his arm, sharp nails digging into his flesh. The world was silent as if it had ended that morning.

"A fox, you think?" she whispered even though a part of her knew that a fox could never rip the pen that way. "You said… you said once that a fox had tried to…"

"I don't know," Haymitch said truthfully. "Get inside, Effie. I'll look."

He had seen what Effie didn't. Haymitch gave one last look at the multiple two-toed footprints left behind in the pen before he take a hold of her arm and guided her away from the pen. Those didn't come from a fox.

His hand was at the small of her back, nudging her back into the house when Haymitch stopped in his tracks. He stared at the claw marks at the side of his house.

Definitely not a fox.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not come up with "dinosaurs on the brain". It was something Tim's father said in the Jurassic Park novel.
> 
> So Johanna's back. So is Annie & Finn! I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter! I'd love to know your thoughts on this.


	4. Chapter 4

**_ 4 _ **

The kettle was whistling in the kitchen, a shrill sound that was entirely misplaced given the sudden heavy silence. Effie had forgotten all about the kettle. She hurried towards the kitchen still holding on to Haymitch's hand because under no circumstances did she want him to go looking for what killed his pets. She turned off the gas and took the kettle off the stove.

"Tea?" she croaked and without waiting for his answer, Effie busied herself preparing the drinks.

Somewhere in the back of her conscious mind, she heard Haymitch telling her to stay while he checked on the others. Alone in the house, Effie realised how quiet it was without the usual sound of the geese outside. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the image of the mangled birds.

Effie trudged up the stairs and mechanically began selecting her clothes. She would be going to the park today with Finn, Annie and Johanna. While it might be her day off, she was still the face and the voice of Jurassic World so dressed as she usually would if only too feel normal after what just happened.

While waiting for Haymitch to return, Effie grabbed her mobile phone and turned it on. Since he found out that she would be on leave from work, Haymitch was adamant that she switch off the device but he wasn't here and she just needed to make sure that there were no urgent messages.

The screen came on, reflecting five missed calls and numerous messages. She was about to return one of the calls when her phone rang. It was one of the technicians.

"A power failure?" she repeated weakly, her face pale. "What about the backup generator… I've been on leave for  _two_  days and this is what happened? But the power is up and running now, yes?"

Effie paused, listening to the technician. Her eyes strayed to the wall clock and her heart skipped a beat. The park would have opened its gates to the public an hour ago.

"Are there people in the park right now? How many visitors? Didn't anyone have any sense at all to deny entrance when the power failed and to keep the park close? Yes, I know the power failed  _before_  the opening hours and you've got it running just in time but – Get me Fulvia on the line," Effie snapped, fuming.

"They've left," Haymitch said as he entered the house. He didn't look pleased at all.

Effie lifted a finger to silence him, pressing the phone to her ear, and if anything, that dismissal only irked him further.

"What are you saying, Fulvia? They are in containment! No, no there must be a mistake. You need to send me a hovercraft, I'm coming in."

No sooner had she hung up the phone, Haymitch spoke.

"Jo, Annie and Finn are gone. They left for the park."

"No, it can't be," Effie frowned. "We were supposed to go together."

"Finn didn't sleep all night from excitement and Johanna's patience has worn thin. You know how it is with her. They went off first. You're to meet up with them later at the park. Peeta happened to be up early so he packed somethin' for them to eat on their journey."

"Oh, no," Effie covered her face with her hands. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

"Look, I know you want to show the kid around but there's no reason to be upset," he told her.

Effie shook her head and when she finally took her hands away, her stance was resolute. She geared herself to face his reaction which she was sure would not be pretty.

"Haymitch, there was… There was a power failure at the park yesterday night. The rainstorm must have tripped something and half the park lost its power."

Haymitch narrowed his eyes. "Don't you have backup generator?"

"Ah, there's a … problem with our security system," she said slowly, biting her lip. "A few bugs in the programming that needed to be fixed. It didn't trigger the backup generator. It should have but it didn't. Although, not to worry," she forced a smile on her face, "they managed to bring the power back again this morning."

"Spit it out, sweetheart. I'm sensing there's somethin' more to this."

She paused, wondering if it was necessary for him to even know the full situation at the park. In the end, she told him what she learnt on the phone. Haymitch kept her grounded and right now, she could feel the slow tendrils of anxiety wrapping itself around her, scenarios of chaos in the park invading her thoughts.

Haymitch looked at her expectantly.

"When the system went back online, there was a red flag. The assets contained in Paddock 10… Well... not all of them are accounted for this morning. Assets number 231, 232 and 233."

"Assets?" he frowned only to blink in realisation. "You mean those animals in your park? What are those numbers for?"

"The… The velociraptors…. They were numbered so that it'll be easier to - "

Haymitch cut her off, his voice was low, dangerous even. "The what?"

Effie let out a breath and avoided Haymitch's eyes when she answered. "The raptors."

"You gave me three numbers," he spat. "Three are unaccounted right now? How many are there? How many do you have?"

"We have eight. Three of them are missing. Raptors are pack hunters, they're social animals," she recited from memory. "If they have escaped, they should be together."

" _If_  they escape? Sweetheart, it's obvious that they've fucking escaped," he snorted derisively. " _Dinosaurs_  from  _your_  park killed my geese. That's what I'm assuming right now; that's basically what you're tellin' me right now, yeah?"

"I didn't say that," she pursed her lips. "And you can't know for certain that that was what happened to your geese."

The image of the two-toed footprints and the claw marks floated in his mind eyes. He glared at her. "A fox doesn't have two toes. It'll leave behind paw prints."

"I – I supposed, yes," she spoke softly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's highly probable that that was what happened."

"I thought you said there were only herbivores at the park? Herbivores won't attack my geese. What are these raptors exactly?"

Without waiting for a reply, Haymitch snatched the dinosaur encyclopaedia that Finn had left behind on their coffee table. He thumbed to the very back of the page until he located the Vs.

"They're hunters," he read the description on the book. "Swift plunderer; they're carnivores that hunted and plundered for food, agile and fast… Oh, great, it says here that they're intelligent. At least some scientist seemed to think so. They attack preys with their claws…"

She flinched, thinking about his geese and how they had been attacked.

Haymitch was staring at the book, studying the pictures. He looked at their hind legs with its two walking toes. The last third toe with the sharpest claw was raised slightly off the ground. It fit the print left behind and if the raptors' claws were as sharp as the illustration, it would explain the mark on the outside wall of the house.

"You want to explain, sweetheart?" he snapped the book shut. "You told me specifically that there would only be herbivores in the park!"

"That was the truth," Effie nodded. "It was out of my control and my depth. I don't deal directly with MGI's research and development. Plutarch is my boss and he wanted something better, something that would give the park a 'wow' factor, something more interesting and scarier. He wanted to blow people out of their minds and we wanted to attract more people. Carnivorous dinosaurs seemed to be the natural thing to do, I mean after all, an ecosystem will have preys and predators, yes?

Haymitch shook his head. He couldn't believe the things coming out of her mouth. Effie Trinket talked about fashion and shoes. She talked about missing her couture not ecosystem or pack hunters.

"It was supposed to be a show for the visitors; let the raptors hunt their prey in a controlled environment. That was the plan. We haven't introduced any of the carnivorous dinosaurs into the park setting. The raptors were placed in their containment unit and raised – "

"Not anymore," Haymitch scowled. "The raptors are out of their containment and what are you gonna do 'bout it?"

"It's under control. This wasn't the first time they escaped. They have escaped their unit twice but on both occasion, the handlers managed to recapture the raptors before they could run any further than their designed perimeter," Effie told him, all business-like.

"They've escaped before?!" he thundered.

_Velociraptors possessed a certain intelligence…_  he recalled reading. It was possible that they learnt how to escape from their previous experiences.

"Clearly, right now, the situation is slightly different – they're still on the loose outside of the designed perimeter, outside of the park - but I have full confidence in our team's capabilities in recapturing and handling the raptors. I have no doubt that the other five raptors are already safely contained or if not, they will be captured within the hour. Fulvia has already dispatched a unit to – "

"You still have  _five_ of them on the loose in your park?" his voice had dropped to a deadly whisper.

"I - Yes, but like I said, our team -"

"Effie," he snapped. "Finn is at the park. Do you understand the situation?"

"I am aware," she sniffed, trying to maintain her composure.

She refused to let him see the cracks or that she was worried. She refused to give in to the panic since it will achieve nothing. As the operations manager, she needed to be level headed and deal with situations like these as they come; it was part of her job and she would step up to it. A small part of her did not want to give him the impression that she had failed at her job or worse that the park itself had failed as an entertainment business.

It was all under control. She was in control. She was. She repeated that in her head.

Frustrated that he wasn't getting through her, Haymitch grabbed her arms and shook her hard. "The entire district is in danger. Did you see what they've done to my geese? They mauled my geese."

"We don't know that," she deny yet again. "There's no reason to sound the alarm if we can just control the – "

"Control?" Haymitch snorted. "Sweetheart, listen to me. These  _raptors_ ," he spat the word out, "are hunters. You don't deny 65 million years of hunting instinct. Right now, you have to assume that you have no control. I know that's a difficult concept for someone who likes to schedule everything to the minute detail but  _you're not in control_  and you've  _never_  been in control. You cannot control dinosaurs, Effs. You think the park running for a year is a success but in that one year, apparently, you're already facing problems."

That seemed to shock her into silence and she looked at him with wide eyes. He finally had her full attention.

"They're free for the first time in their lives and they're not gonna stop. Everything they're seein' right now is new to them, nothin' that existed while dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago. They've no idea where they fit in and their behaviour isn't gonna fit in with what you've learnt 'bout dinosaurs millions of years ago. They're gonna be different. You need to – "

A sharp, piercing cry of pain and a yell from outside caught their attention.

"Katniss, get back!" Peeta was screaming.

Without thinking of the danger, Haymitch ran out of the house followed closely by Effie who tried to grab him and pull him back - she had seen those raptors once and if they were truly free here in the district, she didn't want him to face them - but when she saw Katniss with a bow in hand, shooting arrows after arrows at a moving target, she released his shirt.

Whatever Katniss was shooting at, it was a blur, a blot in the distance before it disappeared from view. With it gone, Peeta emerged from where he had been crouching behind a stack of crates, dragging a man across the village towards the safety of their house.

"It's fast. I don't know what it is. Never seen anything like it before; sharp claws with brown, leathery skin. Like… It's like a huge lizard," Katniss said as she collected her arrows. When she straightened up, she looked thoughtful. "Could it be a mutt from the park?"

For the first time, Effie didn't bother correcting the young woman about her use of the word 'mutts'. Haymitch was already moving past her towards Peeta.

"Help me, please. Help me," the man moaned, wheezing in pain.

Effie recognised that man. By this time on most morning, he would usually have finished his rounds delivering milk to the people in the district. Victor's Village was the last destination for him.

"Don't move so much, Mortie" Haymitch pressed down on the man's shoulder. His other hand was in the man's tight grip, both covered in blood.

He kept whimpering, shaking his head that was pillowed on Peeta's thigh to the left and right in distress. Katniss stood to the side, pale and squeamish.

"We should get him help. We need to bring him to the hospital," Effie whispered, staring at the man in horror. "He needs help."

Haymitch gave her a passing glance. His attention was soon on the man again. Effie became uneasy. There was something wrong with the fact that Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch remained rooted where they were.

"It'll be okay," Peeta's voice was soothing but he looked grim.

It dawned on her that Haymitch and Peeta would not leave the man's side. They already knew what Effie had only just realised; Mortie wouldn't make it. Even if they call for help, the nearest hospital was in town, a good ten minutes' walk away. That time would double with an injured man between them. Not to mention that the man's injuries were extensive.

He was bleeding to death in front of her eyes, she realised. Effie felt the bile rose in her throat. She told herself to look away but her gaze was fixed on him, taking in his injuries. His lower left leg looked like it had been shredded. There was a large slash on his upper right chest. It was so deep that Effie glimpsed the bone from his rib cage.

Effie heard the man's painful whimper, saw the panic in his eyes as he began to convulse and finally, the sharp intake of breath. Then there was silence.

"We can't leave him here," Peeta's soft voice seemed to ring sharply around them. "I will carry him into the house. Call his wife."

Haymitch nodded and then he turned towards Katniss. "You need to warn the people in town. Effie said a unit has been dispatched, let's hope they're good at what they do, but the people need to be warned."

Effie had no idea how tense she was until she felt Haymitch's calloused palm on her arm that she felt herself relax slightly under his touch.

"He's dead," her voice quavered.

Haymitch didn't answer but pulled her closer to him. Her eyes kept darting to his bloodied hand. There was a strong urge to drag him into the house and wash it off him but Effie remained rooted to the spot. She barely listened as he explained the situation to Katniss.

_A man just died,_ she kept thinking.  _A man was killed by a raptor._

"They're at the park," Katniss gasped. "Finn and Annie and Jo. Haymitch, they're - "

"I know," he said. "You need to evacuate the district. Those raptors could be anywhere by now."

"Where are we supposed to go?" Katniss asked.

It was a valid question.

None of them knew or had any experience hiding from a dinosaur, much less one that was a predatory hunter. The most anyone in the district ever had to deal with was when a wild boar ran amok. Katniss could try to take down one of the raptors with her arrows but if they hunted in pack then she alone could not be expected to take down all three.

There was also the fact that when the Capitol bombed Twelve, Gale had taken the survivors deep into woods which would be where Haymitch would have asked them to flee but that option was no longer available now. They were, in fact, supposed to run as far away from the forest as possible.

"You need to get to another district. Eleven still has electrical fences. They hardly use them but it can be switched on. That should keep everyone safe until the situation is taken care of."

"Is the park safe?" Katniss addressed Effie. "If those things escaped from there –"

It took her a while to realise that Katniss was speaking to her until Haymitch nudged her none too gently to elicit a response.

"Those raptors were housed in a restricted area, away from the main park," she fell back into the role of an operations manager. She could do this. It doesn't involve her emotions. She just needed to explain the technicalities. "I do not know the extent of the damage that results from the power failure. Some of the electrical fences went down when power was cut but that was in the restricted area itself, not the main visitors' park."

"What about the other raptors still roaming loose in there?" Katniss demanded.

" _If_ they're still free, they couldn't have reached the main park where the visitors are. Like I've said powers never went down in that particular area. They couldn't by-pass the fence without being injured. "

"Can you confirm it?" Haymitch asked this time.

Her silence was answer enough for him. Haymitch cursed.

"I need to get to the park," Effie announced. "Fulvia's arranging a hovercraft."

"I'm going with you," Haymitch said. "I don't care if the main park is safe or that only the restricted area went down but Finn, Annie and Johanna are still there and I'm getting them out."

Effie hesitated. Eventually, she gave a slow nod.

"Got a feelin' that place's gonna go up in flames, sweetheart," he muttered.

Haymitch grabbed her hand and they jogged towards the meadow where the hovercraft would be waiting. Effie hoped that for everyone's sake, the five raptors would be back in their containment unit by the time they reached the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Mortie, who existed only for me to kill him and to Haymitch who is finally going to the park! Please let me know what you think of it. Next chapter, we'll get to see Finn and everyone else at the park!


	5. Chapter 5

**_ 5 _ **

Having waited for morning for hours, Finn could barely believe that he was standing outside of Jurassic World at the moment waiting for the gates to open. Soon, he would get to see all those dinosaurs he had read about and seen pictures of. He could scarcely wait.

Peeta had given the young boy an old camera for him to capture the scenery and the dinosaurs so that when he returned to Twelve, they could paint what he saw together while Effie had given him express passes to by-pass any long queues. She had also promised him special tours. Right now, Finn felt that he was the luckiest kid in Panem to have an uncle and an aunt like Peeta and Effie.

Impatient and eager for the gates to open, Finn drifted away from Annie to see the front of the queue to gauge how far away he was from the entrance. His mother had told him it would open in five minutes' time but when five minutes passed and the gates remained close, Finn became restless.

That was when the announcement came from the loud speakers, informing them that there were some technical difficulties. Finn kept glancing at his digital watch, wishing for time to hurry.

"What's taking 'em so long? I wanna go in already," he frowned. Then, for the third time that morning, he asked, "Did you remember to bring the passes? The ones Aunt Effie gave us."

"Yeah, I did." Johanna gritted her teeth. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out three blue lanyards to show him. "Satisfied?"

In a daze and oblivious to her son's impatience and Johanna's annoyance, Annie glanced around at the crowd standing in line outside of the park. "There're a lot of people," she commented. "Effie has to handle everyone who visits the park; all these people  _and_  the park itself. She must be really good at her job. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, she better be. It means that if something happens, there'll be hell of a lot of casualties."

Annie blinked and shook her head, pulling Finn closer to her. "Must you be so morbid?"

Johanna shrugged. "You heard them – technical difficulties. It doesn't sound very good, in my opinion."

Annie said nothing because the gates swung inwards slowly and Finn punched the air in a joyful whoop. They shuffled along until they reached the entrance and in his excitement, Finn nearly shoved his ticket into the ticketing boy's face.

He ran forward, feet splashing in the puddle of water left behind by the rain early that morning before he came to a stop, staring and taking everything in.

"It's so awesome! Look at that!" he pointed at a display window. "Oh, look, look! That's  _so_  cool!"

Shops lined the pathway on their right and left, polished glass windows that glittered under the sunlight. There were shops selling souvenirs; little figurines of the different species of dinosaurs in the park which made Finn's head spin, giddy with excitement. There were numerous figurines and he wasn't sure which one he wanted the most. He wondered if his mother would let him get one of each.

There were shops selling candies and snacks, and an ice cream parlour which temporarily held Annie's attention.

Johanna spotted a coffee shop and for a moment, she entertained the thought of finding a quiet, secluded corner with a cup of coffee while she waited for Annie and Finn to finish touring the park.  _Or a margarita,_  she thought when she saw the bar. It was wishful thinking. Even if Annie and Finn didn't mind it, she would never leave them alone on their own.

They spent a while at the shops. Finn bought a backpack imprinted with different coloured triceratopses and a shirt with a big dinosaur baring its sharp teeth emblazoned on it.

"It's a tyrannosaurus," he explained, showing off the shirt to Johanna. "It's earth's mightiest predator! But they don't have one at the park."

"First smart decision," Johanna mumbled.

Annie had to stop him from changing the shirt he was currently wearing to the one he bought but she relented and allowed him to carry the backpack which he did with pride.

"Oh, let's go over there!" he pointed and ran ahead without waiting for the two adults.

Johanna gave Annie an exasperated look.

"Let's go before we lose him," Annie smiled and looped her arm around Johanna's.

Finn was already standing in line so they joined him without truly knowing what they were queuing for. It wasn't long before it was their turn to stand next to the velociraptor. It nudged its head against Finn who laughed in delight and petted it the way one would pat a cat.

"The park doesn't have velociraptors, too," Finn told them.

"That's right," the park's employee jumped in to the conversation and nodded her head. "There are only herbivores in Jurassic World and raptors are carnivorous dinosaurs.  _But_  having said that, one of the aim of Jurassic World is to educate. So we still want visitors, especially curious children like yourself," she smiled at Finn, "to know how velociraptors look like, at the very least so – "

"So you improvised?" Johanna snickered, gesturing at the raptor in front of her.

Just then, the mechanical dinosaur gave a mighty roar. Annie was not expecting it to make any sound that she jumped in fright, stepping on Johanna's toes. Johanna scowled.

"It sounds very real, doesn't it?" the employee petted the raptor proudly. "Then again, nobody really knows how dinosaurs sound like. Come closer for pictures, come closer! It won't bite!"

Finn wasted no time in looping his arms around its neck, smiling widely for the camera. Annie approached it cautiously while Johanna stood next to it, looking at the mechanical contraption critically and when they were handed the Polaroid photo, Finn pouted in disappointment.

"Why didn't you smile for the camera, Aunt Jo? The photo will be nicer!"

XxX

The hovercraft made its descent on the helipad and before it could properly land, Haymitch had already jumped out of it, followed by Effie who hurried after him. They barely made it into the Control Centre when another hovercraft landed and Plutarch emerged.

He was sporting his usual jovial grin and raised his hand in a wave when he spotted them.

"Haymitch," he nodded, looking absolutely delighted to see his old friend. "Finally decided to visit us here, don't you?"

Plutarch did not see the hostile reception coming at all. Haymitch rounded on him and grabbed the collar of his pressed shirt.

"What have you done?" he demanded, giving the man a little shake.

"Haymitch!" Effie cried in alarm and tugged on his arm. "Haymitch, let him go!"

"Carnivorous dinosaurs?" Haymitch spat. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"

"Now, Haymitch –"

"Don't ' _Haymitch'_  me. There are vicious animals roaming free in  _my_  district," he hissed. "They've already killed my geese and murdered a man. He's got a wife and kids, and his body is so badly mauled you don't want his kids to see him that way."

Plutarch seemed visibly startled by the last bit of information but when he blinked, it was gone and he was back to his usual self.

"I do believe a unit has already been dispatched to Twelve to assist, Haymitch," he tried to appease him. "It would be best if everyone stays in their houses and not roam – "

"Stay in their houses? They'll be sitting ducks. Katniss is evacuating them to Eleven. Now, what I want to know is that you have a wall 'bout twelve feet high. So how did they escape?" Haymitch demanded.

"We're investigating. They may have learnt to scale the walls, which I highly doubt they do, but if they have, the electrical fences would have grievously hurt them. However, between you and me," he leaned forward, dropping his voice to a whisper, "these raptors are intelligent creature, as smart as birds. Crows are smart, you know that, don't you? The raptors may have found a way; climbed a tree that helped them over the wall, probably. I don't know. We have a lot of trees in Jurassic World as you can see. We're trying to recreate pre-historic times as accurately as we can. Can raptors climb trees, Effie?"

"I'm not sure, Plutarch. Perhaps you should be asking their handlers that question. They would be able to give you a satisfactory answer."

"Well, the point is, we're still investigating."

"Investigate faster," Haymitch glared at him. "Because you still have five raptors out of their containment in this park, don't you, Plutarch? Johanna, Annie and her kid are here and if anything happen to them, I'll make sure you and your park will never see the light of day."

He stormed into the room, leaving Plutarch and Effie behind.

The Control Room reminded Haymitch so much of District Thirteen's Command that for a moment, he had flashback of the underground district. On the main wall was a huge map of the park and next to it, in red LED light was the number of visitors in the park for the day.

He felt the heavy dread closing in on him. The park was enormous, spanning acres and acres of land and finding three people in a crowd of thousands was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"How am I supposed to find them?" he asked but nobody answered him.

Effie was standing in front of the control room, addressing everyone.

"Somebody better brief me on the situation with the remaining five assets," Effie demanded.

For a moment, Haymitch's attention was diverted to Effie. He watched her, almost in awe, as she commanded the room, getting her subordinates to give her answers and delegating tasks to them in return. She was good at her job after years of having to deal with an uncooperative drunk like him.

"Close off the park," she nodded to one of the technicians. "Make an announcement, tell those waiting to enter that we are overwhelmed with visitors today. We're not letting in any more visitors until the powers in the restricted area are stable and the five assets are back in their designed perimeter. I  _cannot_  believe that they have not been recaptured! How many hours has it been since they escaped?"

"We'll lose a lot of money if we turn people away," Fulvia spoke up, frowning at the decision Effie was making. "And, not to mention, how badly it would reflect on us. We would have to double advertisement to maintain the park's name and worth."

As the head of Public Relations in Jurassic World, it was Fulvia's job to manage the reputation of the park and to ensure visitors' satisfaction, and when Effie called those shots, it didn't sit well with her.

"I'm sorry Fulvia, but you didn't see a man bled out to death today and I'm not risking anymore lives."

"Now, Effie," Plutarch chuckled, trying to dissipate the tense situation. "Remember what I always said – We're in control. There is no need to make a mountain out of a molehill. The five assets wouldn't have made it pass the restricted area to the main park. If we – "

"Plutarch, I'm sorry, but we're doing this. I'm not evacuating the park  _yet_  but if the situation calls for it, I will authorise an evacuation."

If the situation wasn't so dire and if Haymitch was the kind to give out praises, he would have clapped his hands. He had never seen Effie stand up to an authority figure in that manner. Her style was to subtly undermine those above her. He had seen it first-hand in District Thirteen when she refused to follow the proper dress code  _especially_  when she had to attend a meeting where Coin would be in attendance.

"If we let more people in, when it comes to the time to evacuate, it will be a particularly difficult task. Now, the Assets Containment Unit should be – "

"It's down again – the powers in the restricted area. There's a power trip and the backup generator still isn't working," somebody shouted. "Oh, shit! Paddock 11 just went down."

"What's in 11?" Haymitch asked.

"The Tyrannosaurus Rex, sir."

Haymitch had no idea what that was - another terrible, meat-eating dinosaur, probably. Tyrannosaurus sounded too close to the word 'tyrant' and he did not like it one bit. A part of him wished he had brought Finn's encyclopaedia with him so he could consult it instead of feeling like the only clueless person in the room.

"It's moving out of its containment."

His eyes went back to the map and true enough, he saw a red dot moving slowly out of an area marked 'Paddock 11'. He grabbed Effie's arm. "I  _need_  to find them and right now, I don't know where they are. What's Finn's favourite dinosaur? Maybe I should start there."

He saw the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, torn between wanting desperately to help him and at the same time, to do her job in keeping the park under control.

"I – I… We've got too many assets out of their containment, Plutarch, and the ACU is spread thin. There's not enough manpower; half of them are already in Twelve. The T-Rex needs more than just -"

"Effie, listen to me," Haymitch shook her roughly. "You've got to help me out here."

She pulled her arm free from him. Effie moved forward to take a closer look at the map where the T-Rex was moving steadily towards the direction of the main park.

"Plutarch," she said in a measured tone. "We need to activate Defense Protocol 32. We have no choice."

Plutarch hesitated for a moment and Effie seized the opportunity to remind him that a man had died back in Twelve. He gave a curt nod. Effie took a deep breath and turned to address the Control Room.

"Evacuate the park," she directed, "in an orderly manner, if you please. Call District Two - ask for Soldier Gale Hawthorne. Explain the situation to him and order his men to Twelve. President Paylor would want to know why we are activating the military, so brief her on it. Then get our unit currently in Twelve - everyone except for five men to assist Soldier Hawthorne - to retreat back to the park. They need to deal with what's going on here."

"Impressive," Haymitch muttered under his breath.

"Well, quickly," Plutarch gestured. "Get Soldier Hawthorne on the phone. I will speak to him myself."

The damage a T-Rex could cause now that it was free from its containment would be disastrous and Plutarch understood the gravity of it.

"Effie, I will oversee this with Fulvia. You and Haymitch should get Johanna, Annie and her son, and as many people as you can to safety."

"Tell me you've got a way of finding them in this mess," said Haymitch.

"The passes," Effie gasped when the solution became clear to her. She hurried over to one of the control panels. "The passes have barcodes on them and each time they take a ride on an express queue, they would have to scan their codes. I can track them from here from their first ride to the most recent."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a video of the mechanical raptor which i took while I was at Jurassic Park. I'll upload them on my tumblr, if you want to have an idea what it's like! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and if you do, please leave a review. I'll really appreciate it.


	6. Chapter 6

**_ 6 _ **

The screen on the control panel showed the same map on the main screen except this map was without the red markings indicating the positions of the live assets in the park. Effie punched in her employee code and immediately, three green dots appeared on screen, clustered together.

“We got them, sweetheart. They’re at the…” Haymitch squinted trying to read the small words.

“… Stegosaurus Swamp,” Effie finished, knowing where each attraction was on the map.

Effie hurried over to Fulvia and Plutarch, giving them last minute instructions and updating them on where she would be. Her eyes strayed to the red moving dot that marked the tyrannosaurus rex and she was glad to note that it was nowhere near the Stegosaurus Swamp, at least at the moment. She hoped it remained that way.

Haymitch did not wait around for her. He left the Control Room and hurried out of the Control Centre located on top of a hill. He started running downhill towards the direction of the main park.

The Stegosaurus Swamp was located east of the park and he hope finding it would not pose too much of a problem.

“Haymitch!” Effie called out for him. “Haymitch, wait! Wait for me. It’ll be faster on the truck.”

He turned around just as Effie threw the keys over to him. He caught it neatly in his hands as he ran back uphill towards the three trucks parked outside. Glancing down at the keys, he saw ‘3’ inscribed on it. There was a truck with the corresponding number painted on the door. Haymitch slid in the driver’s seat.

Effie rounded on the passenger side a second later and sat next to him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sliding the key into the ignition.

“I thought I’ll just sit here and look pretty,” she deadpanned. “I’m coming with you, of course, isn’t that obvious?”

“No, need for the sass. Now, get out. Out, go,” he leaned across to open the passenger door. “Get back in the Control Room. It’ll be safer for you there.”

Effie closed the door. “This is not up for a debate. I’m coming with you. I know this park better than you do.”

She had a point, of course, and Haymitch knew it, too. Still, he was not going to give in that easily, not with dangerous dinosaurs on the loose. There were already three people he cared about whose life were in danger and Haymitch wasn’t going to add hers on the list.

“You’re needed in the Control Room,” he argued. “Who’s gonna command the – “

“Plutarch is quite capable of commanding the technicians and engineers. He _was_ the Head Gamemaker, Haymitch,” she stared at him pointedly.

Haymitch snapped his mouth shut. He started the truck and pressed his foot on the gas pedal. The truck bolted forward and Effie hurriedly pulled on her seat belt, fastening it on.

She leaned back in her seat and took out her phone even as Haymitch continued speeding towards the east side of the park. Effie pressed the phone to her ear.

“Are all the attractions closed?”

XxX

They had just finished the ride at the River Valley and Finn’s hair was damp from the splashing water of the waterfall. He kept tousling it in an effort to dry it faster.

“This way,” the boy gestured.

He led his mother and Johanna to join the shorter queue.

“You really ought to thank Effie for her express passes, sweetie. It saves us a lot of waiting time,” Annie brushed his hair back. “Speaking of Effie, I wonder if she’s here, at the park. Should we call her?”

“What? Get out of line, find a public phone, call her and then join the queue again?” Johanna raised an eyebrow. “It’ll be easier if someone had remembered to bring her phone.”

“I’m sorry. It slipped my mind,” Annie shifted uneasily on her feet.

She forgot little, little things sometimes. She lose track of times on occasion or misplace her items. Annie tried hard to concentrate and to remember where everything was but it was difficult when she tended to space out.

“Doesn’t matter,” Johanna waved her hand as they approached the front of the queue. “Get in the car.”

The jeep was driverless. Its movement was controlled by electrical tracks which enabled them to move among the animals as they roamed the park in its natural setting, or as naturally as it could be. Finn clambered on to the front seat, leaving the two adults to sit behind him. The tour car drove out once they had all settled in and a voice spoke over the speaker installed in the jeep, explaining the views they were seeing and giving the passengers a background as they move along their journey.

_“The Stegosaurus is a quadruped dinosaur which means that it walks on four legs. The Stegosaurus lived about 150 million years ago but here in Jurassic World….”_

Finn pulled his camera out from his backpack and half turned his body to snap a photo of his mother and Johanna. Annie was looking out of the jeep at the scenery and was startled by the sudden flash. Finn gave her a wolfish grin that was so similar to his father.

The jeep moved slowly around the clearing, driving among the animals.

“When we end this tour, I’ll be a 100 years old,” Johanna grumbled. “You have snacks or anything to eat in your bag?”

“I don’t think you should be feeding those dinosaurs,” Annie said. “Our food might make them sick.”

Johanna laughed. “What makes you think I’m going to feed them? It’s for me. I’m hungry and this tour looks like it’ll take years before it’ll be done.”

“A 100 years?” Finn teased as he rummaged through his new backpack. He handed a Ziploc bag that Peeta had packed for them and handed it over to Johanna. “All your hair will grow white and then fall off! You’ll be my bald, old Aunt Jo.”

 “Finn!” Annie chided him.

She glanced at Jo uncertainly, apologetically. She was afraid that Finn’s words might trigger an unwanted flashback.

“I – I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m sorry.”

Johanna shrugged. He knew what Annie was thinking but Finn wasn’t aware of the full story of what had happened to them during the Rebellion. All he knew was that his father died a hero because that was what Johanna and Haymitch had told him when he asked why he didn’t have a father, and people on the streets kept coming up to him to tell him the same.

_“In the Stegosaurus Swamp, a few Ankylosauruses live amongst them. You will get to see them in a while. In the meantime, on your right, in the next sector, we have the Brontosaurus. You will have to disembark this ride for another to enjoy the scenery.”_

Finn’s head swivelled at the mention of Brontosaurus.

“Oh, hey, look at them! I painted the Brontosaurus with Uncle Peeta,” Finn waved his finger, leaning eagerly out of the window. He lifted the camera hanging around his neck and started clicking away. “Look at how huge it is, mum!”

“Are they giraffes’ ancestors?” Johanna poked her head out of the jeep’s window. “They’ve got long necks, they must be,” she concluded.

Finn’s attention was diverted as two slow moving animals lumbered past them. “This stegosaurus got a baby with it!” he exclaimed. “It’s a herd! There are more of them – look, look!”

“I’m looking,” Johanna told him.

They were moving slowly in the jeep in the middle of a large expanse of field with the trumpeting sounds of the dinosaurs in the background, calling out to each other. Across the field, in the next sector, the brontosauruses head were visible above tree branches, dipping every now and then as they feed on the leaves of the trees.

All around them, the herd of stegosauruses and ankylosauruses moved slowly without a care for the numerous jeeps, minding their own business. They were either not afraid of humans, could not be bothered by their presence or they were used to the scene. The animals were so near that Finn reached out to brush his hand over them as the jeep passed by.

Despite her indifference, complaining and general reluctance initially, the view was incomparable to anything Johanna had ever seen in her life. There was a sense of unreality to the whole thing.

“What are the sharp things on their backs for?” Finn asked, pointing to a stegosaurus.

Annie blinked at him. Finn repeated the question only to have his mother stare at him blankly.

“What’s the matter, Annie, too awestruck by dinosaurs?” Johanna teased. She scrolled through the screen mounted on the tour jeep until she found information on stegosaurus. “It says here that the bony plates act as a defense mechnasim just like the four long spikes on its tail. So, I’m guessing it’s some kind of shield to help them survive in the wild.”

“They’re cool,” the boy declared, eyes sparkling. “I thought that because they look huge and heavy, they’d be really slow but they’re running pretty fast right now.”

“What?”

Finn pointed ahead. A stegosaurus was running straight towards them, lumbering out of the woods and into the clearing.

Johanna froze for a split second and then her instinct kicked in. She jumped out of the moving jeep, grateful for its slow speed. She rounded the car to Annie’s side and pulled her out of the vehicle, while gesturing for Finn to do the same.

The young boy remained where he was, uncertain of what was happening.

“Get out of the damn car right now!”

The sudden shrill, sharp cries made him flinch. It sounded like a warning from one animal to another. All around them, the dinosaurs were growing agitated.

The jeep shook when the sharp tail of the stegosaurus swung and embedded itself on the door. The animal gave a low, guttural whine of distress when it couldn’t dislodge its tail. It began dragging the jeep forward.

That was when Finn grabbed his backpack and jumped, landing on all fours. The Ziploc bag he had handed to Johanna earlier fell out of the car and on to the grass. 

Johanna hauled Finn to his feet and pushed him forward. A stegosaurus ran between them, separating Finn from Annie and Johanna who kept shouting at him to keep going.

One stegosaurus became two and then the entire herd thundered past. The anylosauruses were swiping its armoured tail back and forth as they ran.

“Run, Finn! We’re right behind you,” Johanna shouted.

Annie had her hands clamped over her ears, trying to block out all the noise. She was frozen in her spot and whimpering to herself. Johanna grabbed her roughly and dragged Annie with her. It was a stampede and if they didn’t move, they would die.

“I can’t see,” Finn was yelling. “Aunt Jo! Aunt Jo! Mummy!”

The air was hazy and covered with dust as the animals stomped past him. His vision was obstructed. The scene around him was chaotic. There were people screaming as they abandoned their rides just as Johanna had made them abandoned theirs. Finn was knocked painfully to the ground. He got up and stumbled around, lost and unsure on which direction he was supposed to go.

He felt a hand closed around his upper arm and heard Johanna’s voice. He breathed a sigh of relief but soon, he was running. Johanna was pulling his arm, making him run next to her. In the distance, he could see the trees looming. Johanna was dragging them away from the clearing and into the woods.

They were at the edge of the woods when the sounds of thundering footsteps faded. They crouched behind a bush and waited.

The clearing was empty. The animals were gone.

“What happened?” Finn asked. “Why did the dinosaurs ran away?”

As if it had heard his question, a loud angry roar came by way of an answer. He exchanged a terrified look with his mother.

Something huge burst from the trees and Finn screamed.

“Oh, fuck!” Johanna cursed.

Finn was still screaming, staring in horror at the huge beast.

“Shut up, Finn, shut up! You’re going to lead it straight to us.”

“It’s a T-Rex! It’s a T-Rex!!” he shrieked. “It’s gonna eat us.”

“No, it’s not. It won’t.”

“It’s so gonna eat us. I know it will,” he said with the conviction of someone who believed what he said. He had stopped screaming but his green eyes were darting all around the forest before he eventually just stared at the tyrannosaurus in pure terror. ‘Cause I read about the T-Rex, Aunt Jo,” he whispered. “It’s one of the largest carnivores and the meanest predators!”

“Oh, great,” Johanna grumbled. “What a fucking party we’re having right now. I thought Effie said there’re no meat-eating dinosaurs in this damn park!”

“I dunno,” Finn said quietly, fingers digging into the dirt.

“You need to tell me all that you remember about this beast. We’re gonna think of a way not to get eaten, okay?”

“It’s – It’s got bad vision. We – We shouldn’t move. It can’t see us if we don’t move.”

“Okay,” Johanna exhaled and nodded. “That’s what we’ll do. We’ll be very still. Okay, Annie?”

The three of them remained frozen behind the bushes but their eyes tracked the movement of the giant animal with its muscled hind legs and huge fangs. It bent forward slightly, sniffing the air as though it knew they were nearby and was trying to locate them. It could pick up their scent that much was clear.

Annie let out a terrified whimper when its huge head came too close, an arm’s breadth away.

All hell broke loose then.

Annie panicked and grabbed her son’s hand. She dashed forward, dragging Finn along. But Finn wasn’t expecting it. He face planted into the ground and didn’t move.

“Annie!” Johanna shouted. “Stop!”

The sudden movement and noises startled the tyrannosaurus. It drew back to its fullest height, opened its mouth and roared into the air, letting out a loud rumble. Its eyes followed Annie as she ran across the forest. Johanna jerked forward, wanting to go after Annie but at the same time, she was worried about Finn, still lying motionless on the ground.

It was enough to alert the tyrannosaurus to her presence. It let Annie go and started chasing after Johanna, the prey nearest to him.

One moment, her feet was pounding against the hard earth and the next, she was being lifted in the air, five feet, ten feet above ground and she craned her neck to see behind her. Johanna wasn’t a woman predisposed to panic but being in the jaws of a tyrannosaurus rex made her scream.

Finn’s body became smaller as she was lifted higher but even in her panic stricken state, she found a measure of relief when she saw Finn turned his head to the left, watching her but powerless to do anything.  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me too much! See you in next chapter and we'll find out if Johanna's okay.
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter :)


	7. Chapter 7

**_ 7 _ **

What should once have been a sign proclaiming  _'Stegosaurus Swamp'_  was now simply a splintered board displaying  _'amp'_ and was swinging on its hinges.

The truck slowed down to a stop and Effie leaned forward in her seat. Haymitch moved his hand away from the hand brake to settle lightly on her wrist.

"Stay in the truck," he ordered.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Haymitch took in his surroundings, a hand on the hilt of his knife. The silence was eerie; no birds chirping in the trees and no cicadas singing their tunes. He was certain a park of this calibre was not supposed to be this quiet.

Behind him, he heard the sound of door opening.

"Oh, no! No, no, no," Effie muttered, shaking her head as she came to a stand next to him with her hands over her mouth, staring at the destruction before them.

He should have known that she would not listen to him.

"It looks bad," Haymitch commented.

The clearing was empty; not a single animal in sight. The tour cars were overturned; some of their roofs had caved in, its sides dented. The grasses were trampled flat, trees uprooted and branches broken.

A juvenile stegosaurus lay on its side with its tongue sticking out, clearly dead. It did not take Haymitch long to figure out that the juvenile was caught in the stampede and had fallen at some point only to be stomped on by the fleeing herd before it could get up.

"Get back in the car, sweetheart," he nudged her gently after spotting two human bodies in the distance, bent at an awkward angle. Effie did not need to see that. She would begin to conjure up the worst scenarios involving Johanna, Annie and Finn. "I'm serious."

Of course, Effie completely ignored him and stepped over the broken barricades into the clearing. She walked slowly, eyes trained to the ground, looking for a clue or anything at all that could help them in their search. He followed.

The system had indicated that this was the last place Johanna, Annie and Finn were at which meant that they could not be far. His only hope was that they had gotten out before the stampede started.

"Look! Haymitch, come look at this."

Turning around, he saw Effie picked something off the ground, holding it up for him to see. The item glinted in the sun.

He approached her and upon closer inspection, Haymitch recognised it as the trident necklace Finn often wore. He pocketed it while studying the area at the same time.

There were multiple footprints all over the clearing. He wasn't surprised. It confirmed the chaos that had taken place here. He paid careful attention to the several sets of prints that were always clustered together. The smallest of the three were separated at some point but they joined again and the prints were going in the opposite direction into the woods. He wasn't as good as Katniss but he tried as best as he could.

"I think they got out," he said.

"You think?" Effie wrinkled her brows. "Are you sure it's them?"

Haymitch spotted something in the distance and at that moment, he was certain that they had been here and that they managed to escaped. Glancing in her direction, he lifted his hand and calmly point out, "pretty sure that's Peeta's strawberry cupcake, sweetheart."

Effie squinted to make out the object he was pointing at and then she rushed forward. The cupcake liner was very distinctive. She would recognise it anywhere, having seen them often in Twelve at Peeta's bakery.

"Is this how we are going to find them?" she asked, slightly sceptical. "Based on some footprints that might not even be theirs, a necklace and a cupcake wrapper in a Ziploc bag? It doesn't seem very concrete is – Oh, well…" she changed her tune when she caught the unsatisfied glare he was giving her. "At least, there are evidences that they were here."

"Which was what  _your_  system showed us in the first place."

"Finn! Finn! Where are you, darling? Johanna! Annie! Can you hear - "

"Shut up, Effs! Shut the hell up," Haymitch hissed, clamping his hand over her mouth. He dragged her by the arm to show her the prints she had not noticed. "Take a look at that! That's not a human footprint, and it sure as hell doesn't look like any of the prints belonging to the dinosaurs you kept in this area. This one's different and unless you can tell me what exactly that is, you keep your mouth shut, sweetheart. Quit shouting. Be quiet or you're gonna get us both killed, understand?"

She nodded. Haymitch slowly retract his hand from her mouth.

"You know what sort of animal has that kind of prints?"

Shaking her head, she asked in a whisper, "Is it a raptor?"

"This one's bigger and it sure as hell doesn't look like the ones back home."

"Then it must be the Rex, isn't it?" she looked up at him and for the first time, he saw the hint of fear in her eyes.

It gave him pause, wondering what sort of creature a tyrannosaurus was. One thing he knew for certain, he had no desire to find out.

"Look, Effs, get back in the car and drive back up to the Control Centre," he rested his palm against her cheek, urging her to look at him. "Finn, Annie and Jo are out there somewhere and I'm gonna find them. I'll get them all back home safe for dinner tonight, yeah?"

Effie frowned, the fear gave away into an annoyed glare. She pursed her lips in obvious disapproval.

"I know you're trying to protect me by sending me away, but don't. Stop trying to be the hero."

"You think I'm tryin' to be - "

"We're not having this conversation again, Haymitch. If they are being chased by a Rex, then I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," he scowled. "That's the dumbest thing I've heard. It's not even a plan. I want you some place safe."

"Which is with you - I'll be safer with you, I'll  _feel_  safer with you. We're not leaving each other, Haymitch, and I'll feel better if I'm out here doing something to help you."

"Sweetheart, I'm flattered," he pecked her lips and straightened up, "but you're not gonna last out there in those ridiculous shoes. You're going to break your ankle, and Effs, I  _really_  don't have time to carry you on my back while I run around in this goddamn jungle searchin' for the three of them with a T-Rex on the wild."

"Well, then," she huffed, "if I break my ankle, which by the way, is not going to happen, then  _don't_  carry me. I can take care of myself. Besides, you seem to have forgotten that I was practically born in heels. My mother made me walk in them since I was 8," she snapped and without waiting for him, marched straight ahead.

"Stubborn," he muttered under his breath.

Despite her refusal to listen to him, Haymitch could not keep the hint of admiration away from his voice. Something stirred in the pit of his stomach each time she stood up to him and carried herself in that manner. If they were at home with no threat of flesh-eating dinosaurs, he would have pinned her to a wall.

Haymitch went after her only to have her increased her pace. He chuckled in amusement - as if she could outrun  _him_ in those heels - and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Wait," he said. "I know you're eager, but we're defenceless."

"Oh, you're right. The trucks are always equipped with… something."

Walking back to the truck, Haymitch saw a crate stowed at the back seat which he didn't notice before in his rush. He opened it and gestured for Effie to come closer. There were several weapons in it; rifles, handguns, bullets and darts, and what looked like hand grenades.

He picked up a weapon. "It's a rifle," he told her, thinking she didn't know. He reached out for the bullets.

She arched an eyebrow and redirected his hand to the darts. "Yes, it is. It's also a tranquilizer.  _These_  darts are loaded with neurotoxin. The handlers and the vets used them to neutralise the assets."

Haymitch looked surprised at her knowledge of the weapon. He cleared his throat. "Alright," he nodded. "I'm taking this."

He slung the weapon over his shoulder. Haymitch had his knife with him but he did not want a situation where the use of the knife was necessary. It required him to be close enough to inflict any true damage and being near a predator was the last thing he wanted. He wanted some range.

Haymitch rummaged further while Effie waited next to him, glancing over her shoulder every so often to keep a look out.

"How big are the raptors?"

Effie turned towards him. She paused, raised her hand next to her head and then hesitated. She raised them slightly higher.

"And the T-Rex?"

"Bigger," she answered. "I should say, 5 metres thereabout? And meaner."

Haymitch picked up a hand gun and turned it over in his hand before handing it over to her. "It might not do much harm considering, but I'll feel better if you're armed," he said. He gave her the necessary ammunitions. "Here – take another. This one's got the tranquilizers."

"I've never shot anything in my life," she told softly, looking at him with wide eyes.

"There's always a first, sweetheart."

XxX

Johanna was falling, a twenty foot drop to the ground.

The tyrannosaurus had picked her up with its jaw - put enough pressure to make sure it could lift her off the ground – but was promptly distracted when it spotted the brontosauruses in the next sector.

Its slackened jaw had given Johanna the small window of opportunity to jump. It had held her horizontally, and there was a gap between its upper and lower teeth above Johanna's head. Johanna was determined to squeeze between them before the tyrannosaurus could tighten its grip on her.

She had grabbed one of its teeth to gain purchase while pushing her leg against its thick tongue. She slipped once because of the slimy saliva. It must have discomforted the animal because it shook its head. The force had caused Johanna to swing out of its jaw which worked in her favour ultimately. Her hold on its tooth was the only thing preventing her from falling and that was when she let go, landing on a pile of dinosaur's excretion while still holding on to the now broken tooth.

She was sure if the animal had straightened to its fullest height, adjusted its hold on her with the full intention of making her its prey or had picked her up by her head, then her fate would be tremendously different.

The tyrannosaurus roared when it realised it had lost something but the sound was met by a startled trumpeting from the brontosauruses. The tyrannosaurus swung its big head, its attention once again focused on the herbivores. Johanna ducked her head to avoid its swinging tail and crawled hurriedly to get as far away from possible.

The attack came without warning. The tyrannosaurus charged forward and lunged at one of the smaller herbivores. Its teeth closed around its neck and it brought the juvenile brontosaurus down. Johanna watched the brontosaurus struggled, hind legs kicking feebly in the air before the tyrannosaurus ripped a chunk of its flesh and dragged its kill away.

It began to feed and that was when Finn ran forward, kneeling next to her.

"Are you okay?" he stared at her, pale face.

He must have seen what she saw. Finn looked like he was about to cry but he held himself together.

Johanna rolled on her back, only now realising that she was sore and aching everywhere. Her leg was throbbing from the fall and she hoped that she had not broken an ankle because that would just be the sort of icing on the cake that she did not need.

She lifted her shirt to see several puncture wounds on her ribcage where the tyrannosaurus had bitten her when it picked her up. Her right arm bore deep scratches from where she had scraped herself against the edges of its sharp fangs.

"All things considered, I think I came out okay," she wheezed. She kept the sharp tooth in her pocket, thinking of using it as a weapon.

Annie emerged from behind a tree not far from where Finn had fallen. She pressed and prodded, looking for more injuries but Johanna swatted her hand away.

"Don't run away like that again," Johanna scowled.

Annie nodded. Her face was streaked with tears.

"I thought it was gonna crush you and then eat you," Finn cried. "I thought you were gonna die!"

"Well, I'm not," she rolled her eyes. "I'm okay."

"But how?" the boy frowned. "It's got lots of teeth."

"The brontosauruses," Johanna sat up. Her side was hurting and the material of her shirt grazing against the open wounds was making it worse. "I think that big guy can't make up its mind which one of us would make a more delicious meal."

"I'm glad it chose the brontosaurus. I think 'cause it's got more meat than you," Finn told her.

"Something stinks around here," she frowned, looking around.

"It's you," Finn wrinkled his nose. "You, umm, you fell into a big pile of shit."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Johanna gritted her teeth. As if being nearly eaten by a tyrannosaurus wasn't enough, she was now covered in faecal matter.

"It's okay," Annie patted her hair soothingly. "It saved your life. You could have broken an arm or your leg when you jumped if it wasn't for -"

"Saved my life? My life wouldn't need saving if I – Never mind that. Help me up."

Finn took a horrified step back and Johanna glowered at him.

"You scared of some little shit, eh?" she taunted and then she grabbed his hand and enveloped him in a hug.

"Ew! Get off me! Get off - you smell! You stink so, so bad! This is not cool! Help me, mum!"

Johanna laughed. Her sides hurt with every laugh and every breath she drew but she was alive and the three of them were fine. That was all that mattered.

They continued their trek, hoping to put some distance between them and the tyrannosaurus. Finn kept looking back over his shoulder to make sure that Johanna was still upright and walking, and keeping pace.

XxX

Effie was punching the numbers on her phone, pressing the contraption to her ear as she waited for someone to answer on the other line.

"There's absolutely nothing in this sector! Somebody better start updating me on the situation," Effie hissed into the phone, gun held loosely in her free hand.

Haymitch scowled in her direction. Of course she had to make a phone call while they were about to trek through the jungle. He strapped the gun belt he found in the truck around her waist, plucked the weapon from her hand and tucked it in the belt.

"It's unfashionable," she mouthed.

"I don't care," he answered.

Haymitch grabbed her arm and steered her around the carcass of a dead brontosaurus. Kneeling next to it, he studied the sharp teeth marks around its neck. It wasn't a clean cut. It's flesh was ripped. He didn't like what he saw.

Something - a tyrannosaurus or a raptor - was killing and feeding on the animals.

"Ask them 'bout the T-Rex – we need to know where it is," he instructed.

Effie relayed his question over the phone. While waiting for an answer, she adjusted her phone to put it on speaker so he could hear it too.

"You are at the Stegosaurus Swamp, yes?" Fulvia asked. "The Rex was there... It's still there, in fact. It's not moving. It's been stationary for the past seven minutes."

"Okay," Effie nodded. "Anything else I should know about?"

"It's bad, Effie. It's very bad. We've got Stegosauruses, Brontosauruses and just two minutes ago, the Apatosauruses breaking through and rampaging through the park. It's chaos out there. You should come back to Control. You're in the same area as the Rex – it's not safe."

"I can't come back," Effie winced. "Finn, Annie and Johanna are still out there and we're not leaving without them. I need you to keep a look out for them on your cameras, please."

"Yes, of course. You should know that the evacuation is under way. Once you find them, get out of there as fast as you can."

Effie pocketed her phone. Haymitch didn't look happy at all.

"We've got to move. The T-Rex must have fed on this," Haymitch gestured at the carcass, "and if it's not moving, it's either dead or ... taking a nap. Either way, I don't like that we're in the same vicinity as it is."

They ventured into the woods. For the first time in his life, he wished he had slipped through the fence and picked up hunting during his youth to help his family. He would have learnt a valuable skill or two the way Katniss did but his strength had always been his mind, and he had used it to put food on his family's table. He just needed to think things through and strategise; use his mind and figure things out as he went. Right now, his tracking skills were limited to following visible footprints and trying to make sense of his surroundings.

"Haymitch," Effie's urgent whisper stopped him in his track.

"The boy is leaving behind clues. Smart, kid," he turned, holding on to a Polaroid photo of Finn with his arms around a mechanical raptor. "They went - "

He stared at the huge beast, mouth agape slightly. Effie wasn't lying when she said it was bigger than a raptor. The tyrannosaurus' snorting breath echoed loudly around them. They were near enough to feel the warmth of its breath. Its snout was crusted with dried blood.

"Move towards me very, very quietly, Effie," he told her, voice barely above a whisper.

She did as he asked, moving one step at a time until she was close enough for him to touch her. He pushed her behind him and raised the rifle, aiming it straight between the eyes of the sleeping tyrannosaurus. In its sleep, it didn't look menacing but Haymitch wasn't taking the chance. Still, Haymitch was amazed by the animal in front of him.

 _Humans created this,_  he thought.

"The dosage may not be enough to bring him down," Effie touched his back at the spot between his shoulder blades, standing on tiptoe so her lips were right next to his ears.

"You're telling me this now?!" he hissed angrily. He never took his eyes off the animal.

"I'm not a vet," she answered. "You can hardly expect me to know the exact dosage he needs. I'm just telling you it  _may_  not be enough. Why aren't you shooting it yet?"

" _Because,"_ he snapped, "if the tranquilizer isn't going to guarantee that it'll knock him out, shooting him will just wake him - "

The tyrannosaurus shook its head and lifted it off the ground. Haymitch froze, staring at it. Effie clutched the back of Haymitch's shirt and pressed herself against him. Neither of them moved a muscle. The beast swayed on its hind legs, groggy from its sleep and sniffed the air. It turned its head to the right, looking directly at the pair of them with one eye. Haymitch adjusted his grip on the gun.

His finger was on the trigger, ready to pull it when the tyrannosaurus gave another sniff and promptly turned away, disappearing into the trees. Haymitch blinked, a little rattled at its unusual behaviour.

"What just happened?" Effie asked. "Why didn't it attack us?"

"You want it to attack us?"

"Well - no, of course, not. But I've seen the Rex at its paddock and it  _never_  turned away from its prey before. It didn't seem interested in us at all! How odd. I might be a little offended, if I wasn't so glad."

Haymitch rolled his eyes and then his gaze landed on the mound in front of him. They were standing directly behind dinosaur dung. He looked at the place where the tyrannousaurus had been just moments ago and it clicked.

"It can't smell us."

"It can't?"

"It can if we hadn't been standing behind this mound of shit," he jerked his head. "It's strong enough to mask our scent."

"Oh, the smell!" Effie pinched her nose, only realising the pungent odour now that the danger had passed.

"Why don't you roll around in it, sweetheart?" Haymitch snickered.

"How rude! I  _really_  do not appreciate that kind of jokes."

"Maybe I wasn't joking," he shrugged. ""Your perfume would have given us away otherwise. If Katniss was here, she'll tell you predators have very strong sense of smell and if you walk around smellin' like shit, it wouldn't wanna eat you 'cause you won't smell appetising. It's nature," he shrugged.

"I don't see you taking your own advice. Why don't you lather it all over your - Haymitch!"

She yanked the collar of his shirt hard. Haymitch lost his balance and fell back but it got him away from the fleeing hadrosaurs. All around them, the earth was shaking. Leaves and twigs fell from the quivering trees like snow. He pulled her down with him and covered her head protectively with his hand as best as he could as they crawled towards one of the overhanging trees until they passed.

"Duck-billed dinosaurs," she told him.

"Johanna was right after all. Could have gotten killed by a stampede. You see the irony, sweetheart? I survived the Games  _and_  the Rebellion only to be killed by animals that were supposed to be  _extinct!"_

Effie picked herself up and dusted her skirt, giving him a look to say that he was being overdramatic. "It's a good thing I'm here to save you then. Tell me to roll around in waste product again, Haymitch, and I might just let you get trampled on," she turned on her heels with her head held high and swiftly disappeared amongst the tree in the forest.

"Nah, you won't," he chuckled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't kill Johanna. :))) I didn't make Annie and Finn try to survive out there on their own. Haymitch is a little bit out of his depth and he sometimes forgot that Effie knows this park and how it works better than he does.
> 
> This was a very long chapter, so I hope you like it! Please leave a review, it would really help.


	8. Chapter 8

**_ 8 _ **

Finn dragged his aching feet, tired and restless. His throat was dry and lips parched but Johanna had ordered they ration the remaining bottle of water among themselves. He had already taken a drink and he was afraid to ask for another so soon. Finn stared at his shoes, now covered in mud and for the first time, he wished he was back in Twelve eating Peeta's bread and drinking hot chocolate. At the moment, that sounded so much better than dinosaurs.

He inspected his hands. There were fine red lines, scratches from tree branches and twigs. His skin was sticky with sweat and his shirt was dirty.

Despite the thirst, Finn dug into his pocket for a candy. He unwrap it, letting the paper fall to the ground. He fervently hoped that someone was looking for them. Effie was supposed to have met them at the park earlier today so there was a silver lining that his aunt realised that they were missing and would send for help.

"Is the t-rex gone?" he queried.

"Yeah, looks like it," Johanna nodded. "We've left it far behind."

"Are we safe?" Annie asked. Her voice was soft but tinged with worry.

Johanna shrugged. "We should find a way out of here and then, we'll talk ‘bout being safe. It feels like we're back in the fucking Games."

She kicked the small stones in front of her angrily with a scowl.

"We're not in the Games," Annie shook her head, laying her hand on Johanna's arm gently. "It's over. This is different."

"Is it?" Johanna countered. "Cause it sure as hell looks like it's the people back in the _Capitol_ doing things that's only going to end up killing us.”

“Don’t say that…”

Finn's eyes darted between the two adults, fearfully.

"We're going to die?"

"You're scaring him, Johanna," Annie rebuked. "We're going to be fine, sweetie."

"Maybe you should stop lying to him. We're not fine," Johanna looked him dead in the eyes. "We have one bottle of water, no food except a pack of candies and the sun is gonna set soon, in a few hours."

"We've survived far worst," Annie pointed out.

Johanna looked at them in turn. Finn was staring at her as if she was his last hope and she knew the kid trusted her to get them someplace safe. So she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Annie's got a point - we're survivors, we'll make it. We're in a fix right now but nothing the three of us can’t overcome, yeah? I'll make sure we get out of here alive."

Finn managed a small smile. He wedged himself in between them, slipping his hands in Annie's and Johanna's, "as long as we're together, we'll be fine. As long as we’re together, we’re not lost, right, mummy? We're gonna find our way out."

"We should go back from where we came. We can find our way out from there, couldn't we?" Annie suggested.

"Hell no, we're not going back," Johanna disagreed. "We could cross paths with the t-rex again and I'm not taking that chance. I've seen the visitor's map at the entrance, and the attractions are arranged in a circular manner round the park. If we keep walking this way, we should walk pass another attraction and right next to it is the Visitor's Centre which is where I wannna go. Did I get it right, kiddo?"

The visitor's map, however, did not show the Restricted Area located at the northern end of the park and neither of them knew that area existed in the first place.

"Yes," Finn nodded enthusiastically glad to be able to contribute. He had studied the map for days in the train on their way to Twelve from Four. "The Apatosaurus' attraction is next to the Visitor's Centre."

With a clear destination in mind, they continued their path. It wasn't long before they began to slow down again. Johanna leaned against a tree, breathing deeply and that was when Annie insisted that they stopped to rest.

"Water break," Johanna announced and Finn was more than glad for that.

Annie began changing the leaves she had used previously to cover Johanna's wound, replacing it with fresh ones. She wrapped the cloth she had torn off from her skirt around Johanna’s torso to hold it in place.

"Another five minutes, Johanna," Annie said. "You need it."

"I'm fine. We have to keep moving."

The sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees and glancing at her watch, she noted that it had been an hour since their encounter with the tyrannosaurus, an hour since she escaped death. The sun was still high in the sky but Johanna wanted them to hurry. She had no intention of being out in the open after dark.

XxX

It was small and tiny, but the colourful candy wrapper stood out against the dirt. Effie saw it before Haymitch did and she picked it up; another clue, another trail.

Within the short span of time, she had learnt to read footprints from Haymitch to understand which direction they were going. Johanna and Annie were leaving behind their own clues in that form. If they were being hunted by another person, Johanna would have taken careful measure to hide their trail as much as possible but a tyrannosaurus would not have bothered with footprints and Effie was glad for it.

“Haymitch,” Effie swivelled to face him, his fingers closing around his wrist.

“What is it?”

"They're moving - " she gestured ahead.

"North," he supplied.

"Yes, north. They're going in the wrong direction, towards the restricted area and further away from the main park."

"Shit," he cursed.

Having just received another update from Fulvia on the matter, Effie knew how dire the situation was. The power in the restricted area had completely shut down. The backup generator had failed. A team of engineers and technicians were trying to start up the system and refuel the generator manually which mean that their best hope was the electrical fences surrounding the perimeter of the park and that it would hold before all the animal inhabitants could get to civilisation.

Haymitch was determined to find them all as fast as possible before the place was swarmed with wild animals. He had not stopped to rest and Effie did not dare suggest it even though she could do with a short rest to catch her breath.

"Maybe we can intercept them before they get there..." Effie suggested, at a loss of what to do.

"They're going to find shelter. That's what _I'll_ do," Haymitch thought out loud. "If she's alone, Johanna wouldn't stop. But she's got the kid and Annie with her, and if there's no guarantee they'll make it out before dark then she'll find some place safe for the night but also some place where she can be found if anyone's lookin’. She _wants_ to be found," he said, pointing to the various prints.

The trail was messy; broken twigs that had been stepped on and leaves covered in spots of blood amongst others. Johanna, Annie and Finn were making their presence known very loudly.

"Alright...." Effie said slowly, thinking of all the possible places that they could go to spend the night in.

Turning around in a wide circle, Haymitch said, "She's going to – there! - that's the likeliest place she'll go and the most obvious to anyone who's lookin’ for them."

Effie's gaze followed to where Haymitch was pointing. In the distance, a gigantic dome rose above the trees. Haymitch was right; it was the most obvious choice. If she wanted to be found, she would pick a place that could easily be spotted except Effie knew what that was and she would never have gone there.

"Come on," he jerked his ahead, gesturing for her to walk ahead.

Effie stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "Wait, stop," she commanded. There was a sharp urgency in her voice when she said, "they can't spend the night in that place."

"Why's that? Ain't that a visitor's lodge? You've got a visitor's lodge in this park - a resort or a hotel - for guests, don't you? Thought I saw somethin' like that on TV. Or ain’t that some kind of technical storage area?"

"We do have lodgings but that is _not_ our resort. _That,"_ she jabbed at the direction of the dome, "is an aviary, and it's still located within the restricted area. _"_

"Aviary.... Birds?" he crinkled his brows. "You're housing birds in that - oh, fuck no."

This was Jurassic World; nothing in this park was ordinary which meant the birds were probably engineered just as well. Haymitch's eyes darkened as he remembered the first advertisement he saw of this place. The image of a bird with a sharp, long beak surfaced in his mind's eyes and he remembered thinking of Maysilee.

"Pterosaurs," she told. "That's the Pterosaurs Aviary."

"And I'm guessing they're not herbivores either, are they, sweetheart? Or they won't be in the restricted area."

Effie inhaled deeply. "They eat fishes and small animals."

“So you’ve got carnivorous birds from the very first day the park was open?”

"I - Yes," she admitted. "There was a problem taming the birds. We needed more time so it was not open to the public, yet."

"Tame the birds?"

"Yes," she nodded. "We did it with the triceratops. Do you remember Baby Bop? I told you about her… She's a success as well as several others of her kind. Velociraptors are intelligent and supposedly, receive instructions well. We have yet to tame them but it's in the programme. With the pterosaurs, we wanted to replicate the success of the triceratops. The pterosaurs were to be tamed, the way one would tame a parrot."

He snorted in derision. "Not _all_ of the animals can be tamed. It’s the same with dinosaurs, probably. You can’t tame each one of them.”

“Maybe we should have hired you,” she mused, “as a consultant.”

Haymitch had always been good with animals. He was the only person the geese responded to – not Katniss or Peeta, and certainly not Effie - and _he_ had nurse the kitten with a broken leg that he had found on the streets back to health before Finn adopted it. Effie would never have pegged him for the kind if she hadn’t seen it for herself.

“How dangerous are the pterosaurs?"  

Effie bit her lip. It wasn't a question of how dangerous the pterosaurs were. The question they should be asking was how much danger Annie, Finn and Johanna were in because if they had taken the straight path directly towards the aviary, they were probably in one of the most dangerous area in the park. The area was restricted and conveniently removed from the visitor's map for a reason.

"Effie," he snapped when she was quiet for too long.

The use of her name wasn't loss on her. She was always _'sweetheart'_ or _'Effs'_ to him unless when he wanted to snap her out of an angry rant or a nightmare, or in this instance, when he urgently needed something from her.

She met his impatient gaze, silvery grey eyes boring into hers with such intensity. His jaws were clenched tight. He was worried for them and so was she, which was why she decided that she had gambled with the truth long enough. She had never outright lied to him but she had at times, only told him partial truths. He couldn’t very well make informed decisions with half-truths and right now, people’s lives were in danger.

Plutarch had made every single employee, no matter their designation, sign a non-disclosure. She couldn’t break her contract without severe repercussions but there was nothing left to lose, not now. At the end of the day, she might not even have a job to return to.

“There are more,” Effie began, peeling the first layer of truth surrounding Jurassic World. “There are more species than you know. The MGI created them, whatever they could create, and presented it to Plutarch. If he likes it and if he sees a potential for an attraction, he’ll get it. All of MGI’s research – anything to do with dinosaurs’ DNA - is patented under his name so the choice is his, and always only his. Plutarch… He kept bringing these animals and he kept housing them in the paddocks in the restricted area without consulting either Fulvia or me. Fulvia’s at the end of her rope with him.”

“Damn it, Effs!” he exploded.

“He’s waiting for an opportune time to unveil them to the public.”

“How could you let this happen? You’re the operations manager, sweetheart. Don’t you have a say in it?”

“I was never consulted on the species they were cloning and breeding. What goes in that lab is beyond my control. I’m on a need to know basis only,” she explained. “My focus is here, in the park. My job is to make sure Jurassic World runs smoothly, that the day to day necessities are taken care of. My job is to ensure visitor’s satisfaction and that operations are carried out in a cost effective manner. Haymitch, Plutarch _genuinely_ believed he’s doing something good, that he’s providing a source of entertainment and family fun for everyone. He feels useful because there’s employment for people. He thinks he is contributing to society, to Panem. But I have seen what some of these species can do and I’m … I’m not so sure anymore. Fulvia and I can’t get through him.”

Haymitch ran a hand through his hair. He knew just how stubborn Plutarch could be sometimes, and he wasn’t surprise that Effie was having a difficult time dealing with that man.

“Haymitch,” she called out to him quietly. He stopped pacing to stand in front of her, peering at her worriedly. “It’s not just the Rex and the velociraptors in there. We have more – dilophosaurus, gallimimus, pteronodon, pterodactyls – all aggressive in their own way, and they’re breeding.”

“Run that by me again.”

“They’re breeding,” she repeated, licking her lips nervously.

Haymitch let out a breath and pressed the heels on his palm against his temples. “What the fuck have you done?”

“Haymitch – “

"Why are the animals allowed to breed?” he demanded.

“It saves costs,” she explained as if that was most logical thing in the world and in doing so, breaching so many of the company’s confidential information to him. “Cloning a dinosaur costs a _lot_ of money. The MGI are able to control the gender of the dinosaurs they are creating by introducing or manipulating specific genes at appropriate time. So each time the MGI clone a new species, they were instructed to produce a male and a female. That’s the procedure. Upon maturity, the species are then allowed to breed in the wild. This way, we get more dinosaurs born in its natural setting without spending too much. We control their breeding by allowing a handful to reproduce and sterilising the others. We tried with the stegosaurs and the brontosaurs, and it was successful with 60% of the animals surviving infancy.”

 “I can’t fucking believe this. Sweetheart, none of these are natural,” he gestured wildly, “it’s all made up! Dinosaurs are extinct. They’re long dead. _This_ isn’t their natural environment or ecosystem. You people are drunk on power,” he spat. “You realised you could do it but not a single one of you stop to think if you should.”

Effie bit her tongue. He was angry and when Haymitch was angry, Effie had learnt that it was better for him to rage. If she wasn’t the exact source of his anger to begin with, to interject would be to focus his ire directly on her, and right now, he wasn’t angry with _her_. He was angry with the whole concept of Jurassic World and what they had done to it. He had never approved of the idea from the get go.

He walked away from her and sat heavily on a fallen branch, cradling his head in his hands. Effie granted him the space he needed. After a while, he raised his head, looking at her.

“You said they were breeding…”

“I did,” she nodded from where she was sitting, flexing her toes as she let her feet rest. Her heels were next to her. “They breed depending on the season and right now, there are raptors’ nests in there, mostly. We have to be careful. Raptors are fiercely protective of their young,” Effie winced when she told him.  “We started out with two raptors, now we have eight. Five of them are still in this park. There are still eggs in their nests. They have not hatched, at least, not when our vets last checked on them.”

Haymitch pinched the bridge of his nose. He walked over, extended his hand towards Effie to pull her to her feet.

“And am I supposed to prepare myself for an encounter with a young t-rex ‘round here?”

“No, we don’t have a baby rex,” Effie shook her head. “We only have that female rex in this park.”

“Oh, yeah?" he snorted in derision. "What happened - too damn expensive to make another beast?”

“She killed him; a kind of power struggle that we don’t quite understand.”

 


	9. Chapter 9

**_9_ **

“There has to be a maintenance shed or a building here somewhere. They would have to keep tools or food for the animals, don’t they? If there is, we could stay in it for a little while,” Annie suggested. “We can’t keep on walking, Johanna. Finn’s exhausted and you need to have some rest, too.”

Johanna glanced over at Finn.

His gait was in such contrast to how he was just this morning. His steps faltered and he walked with a slight hunch. When he realised that the adults were talking about him, he straightened up, plastering a smile on his face. He learnt that from Effie, to always smile no matter the situation.

“I’m okay,” he assured them.

“Are you sure?” Annie probed.

He nodded and increased his pace just to prove himself.

They walked a little further until they chance upon a building. It was big and its design was odd, made up mostly of wire mesh – nothing made from concrete like how Annie had expected.

Annie peered inside to see shrubberies and plantations – no wires or electrical appliances or food – and decided that it appeared safe enough for them. She walked around it, stopping only when she found the gate. One would require a key card to gain access but security system did not appear to be functioning.

“Over here,” she waved them over.

Annie tried her luck. She pushed the gate, hearing it creaked on its hinges. Johanna helped and together, the gate swung open.

Johanna stepped inside, leaving Finn and Annie standing outside.

“I should take a look around first, make sure it’s safe before – “

“We should go with you,” Finn interjected. “We should stick together. It’s scarier if we’re separated.”

Annie nodded. “Finn’s right. You shouldn’t go in alone. We’ll come.”

Johanna muttered something unintelligible under her breath as Annie walked past her with Finn. Slipping her hand inside her pocket, Johanna grabbed tight the tyrannosaurus’ tooth and went after them. She wished she had an axe with her, it would certainly make her feel much safer, but the tooth would have to do for now.

The squawking alerted her to the fact that they were not alone. Johanna’s ears perked up instantly, listening attentively. Her eyes roamed the space in front of her, searching for a sign of danger, looking out for movement and watching Annie’s and Finn’s back.

So far, all the dinosaurs she had seen and encountered walked on the ground. Johanna never thought to look up, never considered that there may be flying dinosaurs so it never occurred to her that the danger may be air borne because if she had, she would certainly have seen the numerous winged animals perched on the tree branches.

“What do you think, Johanna? Should we rest here for a little while?”

“Wow…. I didn’t know they had those here…” Finn breathed out in complete amazement. “This is so awesome,” he gushed, fumbling with the camera around his neck.

Johanna looked up, following Finn’s gaze but it was too late.

A shadow fell on him, massive dark shape overhead. The attack came swiftly.

The flying creature folded its wings, plummeting earthward towards Finn. The young boy stood rooted to the ground, unable to comprehend what was happening and too shock to move. Its long, sharp beak would have stabbed and torn through Finn like a spear if Annie had not pushed him out of the way.

Johanna’s ears rang as it zoomed past her, pulling itself up at the very last second before it could hit the ground and changed its trajectory upwards.

“Run!” Annie screamed as more of those creatures came swooping down on them. “It’s a huge bat!”

 _These aren’t bats,_ Johanna thought, _as sure as they’re not birds._

Now that they were closer, Johanna realised how colossal they were. She had never come across a bat or a bird with that big of a wingspan – it was at least about six meters long – with claws on their hind legs as sharp as daggers.

Finn tried to scramble up to his feet but one of the winged creatures landed on him, claws digging painfully into his back. He cried in alarm and turned around, desperately pushing the animal off him. It bit his arm and tried to tear the flesh away.

He yanked its head back and tried once again to get up to. Johanna was trying to get to him but she was fending off attack herself, using the tyrannosaurus’ tooth to slash at the birds.

“It’s a fucking aviary, Annie! Get out of here – go! – I’ll get Finn. These things are fucking monsters.”

“Actually, it’s a pteranodon,” Finn gasped for breath, finally standing to his feet. “It’s looking for food. Guess we’re food.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Johanna grabbed his hand.

They started running towards the gate where they came from. Annie was already ahead of them. They were so close when Johanna felt her arm nearly yanked out of his socket when Finn gave it a violent tug. One of the pteranodon had flown low enough to clutch Finn by the shoulders and was trying to take off with him.

“Don’t let me go!” the boy was screaming, trying to reach out for Johanna. His fingers brushed against hers but he was unable to grab on. “Aunt Jo!”

A thought came unbidden to Johanna. _It won’t hold. Its wings are thin and Finn’s too heavy. It’ll tear its own wings._

The pteranodon kept flapping its wing as Finn struggled. Around the shoulder area, blood spots began to appear on his shirt.

“Keep thrashing, Finn. It can’t lift you up! Just keep doing what you're doing.”

Johanna tried to find something other than the tooth to be used as a weapon. That was when Annie came running, streaking back with hair flying wildly around her. Johanna stared, open-mouthed, as Annie jumped, throwing herself at the creature and taking it down with her. It gave Finn the chance to break free.

“Don’t hurt him! He’s my son, don’t hurt my Finn,” she screamed, completely losing it.

“Out!” Johanna shoved Finn away before the boy could even think about heading back his mother. “We’ll be right behind. Get out!”

She snatched the rock she found on the ground and used it to mercilessly strike the creature’s head repeatedly before hauling Annie to her feet. They ran for the gate with the countless other birds swooping down on them.

“My son,” she sobbed. “Where’s my son, Johanna?”

“He’s fine! Get yourself together, Annie! He’s got out.”

They burst through the gate and into the open. Johanna never had the time to close the gate because the winged creatures were close on their tail. Instead, she pulled Annie down with her where they lay on ground among the tall grasses, watching the pterosaurs flying off into the distance, finally free from their cage.

XxX

It sounded like airplanes flying in the sky, a low droning vibrating through the air.

Haymitch barely had time to look up when he heard Effie shouting a warning and screaming his name. Effie shoved him hard from the back causing him to fall forward. The air rushed past him as something wheezed by. On instinct, he covered his head protectively with his hands.

 _Effie,_ he thought, glancing back to check on her.

She was frozen with her back against the bark of a tree, completely exposed.

In that moment, it seemed as if time had slowed down and he watched agonisingly – his heart stopping for a second, fingers clenched tight together and his guts in a twist - as one of the birds hurtled passed him like a bullet towards her with its beak aimed straight for her, a fatal attack.

 _She's going to die,_ his brain supplied, _just like Maysilee; skewered in the neck._

He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t let it happen again, not this time and not with Effie.   

"Your gun!" he shouted. "Shoot it, sweetheart. Aim and fire - you gotta shoot the damn thing!"

He started crawling on his elbows, pushing himself forward to reach her but staying low enough not to attract the attention of what he now assumed were the pterosaurs from the aviary.  

There was no such luck. One of the pterosaurs pulled on his hair, yanking his head back. "Fuck off!" he reached back to knock it away. The animal hopped off but attacked him again.

Up in the air, the pterosaur continued with its flight path towards Effie, streaking with such velocity.

"Run!" he screamed because that was all he could do. Any second now and she would be impaled. "Effie!"

The urgency in his voice snapped her attention and Effie ducked her head, only narrowly missing the bird's fatal attack. Its' beak remained stuck on the tree. It was using its hind legs to push itself off, flapping its wing violently. It struck Effie's face and blood began to seep through the wound.

Reaching for the belt looped around her waist, she drew the gun only to fumble with it and dropped it on the floor.

Effie never bothered to pick it up. Instead, she took off one of her shoes and drove the sharp heel straight into the eye of the animal. It gave a painful howl, thrashing in distress.

Haymitch lunged and grabbed the fallen gun, rolled on his back and shot that bird that had been attacking him. It flopped to the ground, lifeless.

"Ugh," Effie wrinkled her nose as she freed her shoe. The heel came away sticky and wet. "I'll have to get new ones once we get out of here."

“I’ll get you ten,” Haymitch breathed out, lying on his back on the ground, staring at the canopy above him.

Xxx

The sudden noise cracked through the air; a familiar sound from her childhood when Peacekeepers roamed the streets in Four with their standard issued guns, terrorising the district to keep everyone in line.

"Stop, stop!" Annie grabbed Johanna's hand. She tilted her head, waiting but the silence had returned. "Did you hear it?"

"Yeah, a gunshot, I heard it," Johanna nodded. She pointed to her left. "Looks like it came from there."

"It means someone's here, someone who could help us," Annie said excitedly. Her eyes gleamed with hope.

"Maybe someone's looking for us! Hey! Hello!" Finn raised his voice. "Is anyone out there? Hello? Can anyone help us?"

Johanna knocked his head and pressed a finger to her lips, asking Finn to be quiet. "We don't want to attract the wrong kind of attention."

"Then how are we going to let whoever’s out there know that we're here?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A whole chapter about dino-birds! They're getting closer to each other...  
> See you in the next one.


	10. Chapter 10

**_10_ **

Haymitch wiped away the trail of blood from her cheek with the back of his finger. His hands roamed her arms and up her sides, checking for any other signs of injuries.

“You okay?”

“I am, I’m fine,” she nodded, pulling him in for a hug. “I froze. I’m sorry, I froze.”

“Can’t blame you – those things are terrifying. But you did great, sweetheart,” he told her earnestly, cupping her face between his hands and then he let out a chuckle. “Turns out, those damn shoes of yours were good for somethin’. Who would have thought? Your heels can kill.”

Effie beamed at him, lips curling into a pleased grin.

“What did I tell you? Didn’t I say I can take care of myself? You should _never_ doubt my – “

Whatever Effie meant to say was swallowed in a kiss. Haymitch captured her lips to silence her because right now, she was acting too smug and too proud. He didn’t need a _‘I told you so’,_ he knew she was more than capable. She was Effie Trinket after all but that didn’t mean it made him worry any less.

When he drew back, Effie laughed lightly and pressed another kiss to his lips.

“Twice,” she whispered, still proud.

"Twice what?"

"I've saved your life twice now, haven’t I?"

"Oh, so you're keeping count?" he mocked.

The self-satisfied grin was back, now more unbearable than ever. "I must admit, it does feel good to do the saving once in a while. See, you can save people _without_ the element of kidnapping in place," she teased him lightly.

He groaned. "It's been years, sweetheart, you can't just -"

Haymitch broke off abruptly, tilting his head to hear better. They exchanged a look. He knew she had heard it too. The voice was disjointed and unclear, but it was unmistakable that it was the sound of a human voice, a cry echoing between the trees.

“Finn,” they concluded that the same time.

“It’s him, isn’t it? I’m sure it’s him,” Effie’s eyes roamed their surroundings, trying to locate him.

Haymitch nodded. “Sounds like him. He didn’t sound so far off. They must be nearby.”

Without another word, Haymitch tucked the gun back into Effie’s belt, slung his rifle which had fallen when she pushed him and gestured for her to put on her shoes back.

“Come on, we can track them.”

Effie and Haymitch began moving towards the direction from where they had heard Finn earlier, picking up pace and running when they heard another echo of “hello” reverberating through the trees.

Finn was calling out for help at an interval, shouting once and then keeping quiet for a long time before he called out again. It was probably a smart decision so as not to attract the dinosaurs.

“Finn!” Effie called out once, just to let the boy know that they had heard him and if he really was close by, Effie hoped they had the sense not to wander off far. “Quickly, Haymitch,” she urged as she ran pass him.

Haymitch was bent forward, examining something on the ground when the tyrannosaurus burst through the foliage on his left.

“Oh, shit,” he cursed and grabbed Effie’s hand, pulling her towards the man-sized space in a large tree. It was a tight fit for two adults but it was the only hiding spot.

The tyrannosaurus roamed the area, sniffing the air before coming to a stop near the tree. It was too close for Haymitch’s liking.

_It could smell our breaths._

Haymitch clamped his hand over Effie’s mouth and pressed his own face against the crook of her neck, muffling the sound of their breaths and trying to cut off their scent.

Effie’s fingers coiled around his wrist, digging her nails into the soft flesh of his inner wrist and trying to get his attention.

“Ay…mit,” she tried to speak.

“Shush,” his breath warm against her neck.

Effie fidgeted, kicking her legs in alarm. Haymitch pressed himself further against her. It occurred to him that she might be trying to tell him something but at the moment, it couldn’t be more important than him trying to keep them both alive so he kept his hand firmly against her mouth.

The tyrannosaurus turned its head this way and that, searching and growling when nothing turned up. Time seemed to stretch forever before the predator moved away and Haymitch breathed a sigh of relief.

He dropped his hand and Effie pushed him away slightly, batting away something neither of them could see on her legs.

“Ow! Ouch! Something’s been climbing on my leg, Haymitch,” she cried, on the edge of hysterics. “Ugh!”

There was nothing he could do to help her from here so he squeezed out of the opening. She followed suit in a hurry.

“Quickly, Haymitch, it’s climbing up my skirt. I can feel it. Haymitch!”

“Will you shut the fuck up?” he snapped, kneeling in front of her.

Haymitch lifted the edge of her skirt and immediately saw what was bothering her.

“Ah,” he chuckled. “Will you look at that?”

He lifted the small reptile no bigger than the palm of his hand by its tail and let it dangle between his pinched fingers.

“Oh my,” Effie gasped in disbelief. “ _That_ was climbing up my leg?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, settling the animal on his palm as he studied it curiously.

“Haymitch… Haymitch, no,” Effie frowned. “No, no, put it down right away.”

"This is a dinosaur, yeah? Never seen one this tiny – what’s this?”

" _That_ is a baby velociraptor and it will grow fast. Give it a few weeks and it won’t be this small anymore. Will you put it down? You’re looking at it the way you’ll look at your goslings.”

Haymitch raised an eyebrow, not even looking at Effie. His attention was focused solely on the infant in his hand.

Effie sighed, already fearing the worst. If Haymitch had a weakness other than liquor, it was animals, especially if they were a baby or worse, helpless. She had seen it with her own eyes how careful he was with them - at times, she couldn’t help but wonder how he would be with his _own_ child except that was a line of thought she crossed out as soon as it came unbidden – and Effie was certain, she was the only person to realise this about him.

Soon after the war ended, Haymitch had come across a pair of geese, not fully an adult but not a little gosling either, on sale at the market. Thinking that they would most likely end up on someone’s dinner table, he bought them and reared them which led to him having a whole flock in his backyard. When she had asked, he had simply grumbled under his breath about how “they are as noisy as you. Fills up the silence when you ain’t around,” and she had dropped the subject.

One night, during a winter storm, he found a kitten half buried in the snow with a broken leg. Haymitch didn’t make a fuss, quietly settling the kitten in a shoe box and nursing it back to health for a few weeks. Effie loved the kitten, stroking its soft fur whenever she came to visit during the weekends but she knew he wouldn’t keep it. He had casually talked about felines with Finn on the phone and on purpose no doubt because the next thing she knew, Finn had a pet kitten much to Johanna’s chagrin.

Haymitch had a big heart; capable of wondrous things, capable of caring so much more than he let on – all words she would never utter out loud in his presence, of course, because he would never hear it – and she had seen it again and again with the way he loved her, the manner in which he treated the children, the way he tried to make Finn happy and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to her the way he handled the fox but it did.

The cub had wandered into his geese pen and instead of chasing it away and scaring it off from ever coming back, Haymitch had bundled that poor thing, fed it something to eat and given it to Katniss to release it back into the wild. “The mother’s probably out looking for it. Shouldn’t separate it from its cub,” he had said.

“Haymitch,” she touched his shoulder gently.

“This is a raptor?” he asked with a note of incredulity.

Haymitch nudged the small reptile until it lay on its side on his palm. He inspected its legs, running the pad of his fingers against its developing claw.

“You really need to put it back where you found it.”

“Which is where, sweetheart? Up your skirt? I gotta say, I don’t like the idea of it being that close to… well… _there_ ,” he smirked. “Ain’t I the only one allowed anywhere near there?”

"Really, you are ridiculous," she huffed. Effie walked back to their hiding place in the tree. "I think we found one of the raptors' nests."

Her announcement went unanswered, ignored for the most part as if she hadn’t just made a huge discovery. When she turned around, she saw that his attention was once again on the raptor.

He was enraptured. It was plain to see. She supposed, even he was not at all immune to the wonders and marvels that the dinosaurs had to offer despite his initial objections to it. He had not seen it in the adult dinosaurs, not truly except with the tyrannosaurus when he had found it horrifying and brilliant that it was a human creation but this… This raptor was not created by humans. It was hatched from an egg.

The baby raptor hopped up his arm and on to his shoulder before Haymitch picked it by its tail yet again to place it on his palm. Effie feared that he might have temporarily forgotten what a full-fledged adult raptor could do because right now, he was not doing as she was asking him to.

Effie rubbed her temple.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

The longer she stood there waiting for him to snap out of it, the more ridiculous it was. Haymitch had plucked a worm he happened to see in the dirt and placed it within the baby raptor's line of sight just to see what it would do.

It lifted its hind leg, claws ready to attack before it toppled on its side, losing balance. Haymitch chuckled in amusement and nudged the raptor upright again.

"Not so terrifying when you can't even feed yourself," he muttered.

"Haymitch!" she hissed. "Did you hear what I said?"

"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked, clearly distracted.

"Raptors' nest – I found it."

He lifted his head to look at her.

"So take that raptor and put it back here in its nest. Please, Haymitch, this one doesn't need your help."

"Yeah," he sighed, nodding to himself. "You're right."

Haymitch cupped the small reptile and released it back where they found him inside the hollow of the tree together with the worm, just in case it got hungry, he thought. Although, for something that had difficulties trying to feed itself, it moved surprisingly fast. It hopped and hooked its claws on Haymitch's shirt.

He pried it off with some difficulty. It gave a low, distressed whine and squeaked when Haymitch placed it once again in its nest. He made to move away, standing up and dusting his pants at the knees except the raptor sprang and jumped on him, climbing up his pants and burrowing head first into his pocket.

Haymitch tried to fish it out only to abruptly pull his finger back. "Ouch," he scowled. "Damned thing bit me. I'm bleeding."

If he wanted her attention, he wasn't getting any. Effie was studiously ignoring him the way he had ignored her when she made the grand discovery about the nests.

"Some of the eggs are destroyed," she noted.

Haymitch wiped the blood on his pants as he went over to where she was inspecting another nest. Several of the shells were crushed while some had holes as if it had been poked through by sharp claws.

"Sure looks like it was eaten – same as my geese's eggs."

"Well, it can't be," Effie disagreed. "I've already told you – velociraptors are protective of their young."

"Most animals in a pack have leaders – their alpha," he told her, "And sometimes the alpha will kill the young if they think their position is at stake. Think power struggle in its intrinsic, basic form," he shrugged.

"Or perhaps, the Rex had eaten them," Effie countered.

"Maybe or maybe not," Haymitch shrugged. "If these eggs didn't belong to the alpha, it might have destroyed it. There are – what? – three nests, yeah? And only  _this_  nest got a living baby raptor in it. This one," he tapped the raptor in his pocket, "could belong to the leader of the pack  _or_  it ate all of its other siblings. That's cannibalism, y'know," he spoke the last part quietly.

"You're talking to it now? It sounded like you're chiding that raptor."

"What? As if you've never talked to Finn's cat while it was at our house," he retorted.

She smiled not because of the truth of his statement but because he had said 'our' house. It had been a year since she moved in but it still warmed her to the core when he referred to something as theirs.

"You're smilin' 'cause it's true, ain't it?" he teased.

"It couldn't have eaten its siblings. It  _has_  to be the Rex. Raptors hunt in packs and if it ate its own kind, how on earth would it be able to form its own pack?"

"No use guessing," he said gruffly. "I'm not an expert on raptors' behaviour. If Plutarch had wanted his dinosaurs to breed, he should have brought in some bloody professionals in the first place and shouldn't the MGI have experts when it comes to animals? We're talking 'bout an organisation that spent years altering animals to be something they're not. "

"We should go," Effie said, refusing to engage in any further talks about what Plutarch should and should not have done or about the MGI's expertise. Now that she had escaped the tyrannosaurus twice, she wasn't feeling particularly fond of either Plutarch or the MGI. "If there are nests here, it could only mean that we've walked into the velociraptor's zone without realising it. Oh," she added, tilting her head to the side as she stared at one of the nests. " _If_ the park falls, we should send out a team to ensure all the eggs are destroyed. We don't want any rogue dinosaurs growing in the wild without supervision."

"Yeah, good idea," he grumbled, "except that won't be as easy as it sounds, would it? You gotta do a clean and thorough job, sweetheart, and it ain't easy if nobody in this park kept count on the number of eggs laid by  _each_  animal and the numbers of animals that hatched out of those eggs. You said it yourself this wasn't your job scope, so how would you know then?"

Effie nibbled on her bottom lip. "They… They should have a record in the system, except…"

"The system's down," Haymitch filled in the blanks. "We'll figure it out. Right now, we'll take it one step at a time, alright? First we got to find the three of them and then we get out of here."

"And out of curiosity, are you planning on taking that baby raptor with you?" Effie crossed her arms and stared pointedly at the small head peeking out of Haymitch's side pocket.

"No," he sighed, "but it looks like the damn thing's coming with us anyway. You saw for yourself…. It won't stay put in its nest and if you can take it out of my pocket without it biting your fingers off, be my guest, go ahead and try."

"If it imprinted on you the way your geese did - "

"Nah, I'm sure it hasn't. We can't be the first living being it saw," he speculated. "Guess it knows that its' got a lesser chance of making out here on its own, primal survival instinct maybe. Or maybe it's just smart, like you said," he told her in a tone that reflects his incredulity.

"I supposed…"

"And think about it," he dropped his voice to a low baritone, "when the time comes, we could use it as a bait to draw the other raptors out, kill them all before it could kill anyone else. Right now the thing's harmless but it'll have its uses and we should seize it."

"Why are you whispering?" she said softly, mocking him. "Raptors are smart but it doesn't mean this one fully understands human speech or that you're plotting against its kind.  _Honestly,_  Haymitch."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe I was just being cautious, you ever thought about that?" he said defensively, jaws clenched tight. "You said it yourself, sweetheart, we might've walked into the raptor's holding area. No need to draw more attention to ourselves."

Effie arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"I'm sure."

Haymitch gave her a disdainful look and walked off, pretending not to hear her quiet giggles behind him.

"Its' only going to get bigger, Haymitch," she called out after him. "You can't keep it with you."

"I don't plan to have it with me for the next couple of weeks, do I?" he fired back, glancing briefly over his shoulder to see if she was keeping up with him. "I'm getting rid of it as soon as we get to Twelve. If they're as protective as you said they are, I'm giving this one to Hawthorne or your team.  _They'll_  use it as bait."

"When the time comes, it  _better_  be what you said it'll be," she pursed her lips and when he frowned at her, Effie added, "I'm not the one who rescue animals because he thought they'll get eaten only to raise an entire flock in his backyard."

He scowled.

XxX

It was unmistakeable.

That was the sound of Effie's voice calling out for Finn and the boy had given a whoop when he first heard it. Now they were moving, trying to locate her.

"They are so close, Johanna," Annie repeated. "She's looking for us."

"If she's alone, she's even stupider than I thought," Johanna glowered. "This place is a fucking arena and Trinket won't last – "

"Stop it! It's  _not,_ " Annie told her fiercely. "This is  _not_  the Games. You should stop thinking of it that way. I'm sure Effie has brought – oh, dear."

They abruptly stopped walking. There were five velociraptors. Two were standing directly in front of them while the other three flanked their sides.

Johanna took the scene, her mind working on overdrive, trying to find a way out.

They were as tall as her with leathery skin and sharp eyes that kept darting between the three of them. They stood still, unmoving as they kept their prey within their line of sight.

 _A pack,_ she noted, _and organised._

They were surrounded, she realised. No matter which direction they try to run, one of the animals would attack them.

"What are these, Finn?" she asked out quietly of the corner of her mouth. "Looks like that mechanical bullshit you took a photo with."

"Velociraptors," he whispered. "They're never alone 'cause they hunt in packs."

"Great. Anything else?"

"I – I read a book. It says that velociraptors are intelligent but I don't know. Does it mean they're smarter than humans?"

"Guess we're about to find out, don't we?"

"They'll use their claws to, umm, swipe at their prey to kill them and they'll use their jaws to rip their prey, too."

"Deadly," Johanna nodded. "I got that much. Can we outrun them? How fast can they go?"

"I don't know."

The velociraptors had gone on too long without making a move because the one standing directly across from Johanna took a cautious step forward. To her, it felt like a staring contest; Johanna never took her eyes off it and it never broke its gaze. It occurred to her that if she were to look away, it might take it as a sign of weakness and attack.

"Back away slowly," Johanna instructed. " _Slowly._  I mean it, Annie. The last time you ran a fucking t-rex nearly ate me. So you listen to me right now."

Finn moved closer, slipper his hand into Johanna's. His hand was clammy, his breathing was harsh and his heart was pounding in his chest. He had thought the velociraptors were amazing and cool when he read about them but now, his opinion of them was drastically changing.

"Don't let go," Finn pleaded.

Johanna squeezed his hand in reassurance and held on tight to him. Annie, who was pinching the flesh of her palm like she was prone to do in stressful situation, was following Johanna's lead, taking one step back at a time just as Johanna was.

Backing away did not feel safe. Johanna wanted an axe. She could hardly say with confidence if she could take them all down even with her axe but she could damn well try because right now, she hated being defenceless, especially when there were two other people dependant on her. This helpless feeling reminded her too much of prison and she  _needed_  to be in control of her own fate.

But fate was cruel. Finn caught his foot on a tree branch and he stumbled down with a yelp. Annie jerked, wanting to go after her son but at the same time Johanna had expressly told her to move slowly.

In the end, it matters not what any of them did because the velociraptors closed in on them. One slashed at Annie. She screamed, holding her hand up defensively. Blood began pouring from the wound in her arm and she cradled it against her chest.

Johanna reacted instinctively. She threw a rock on the animal's head. "Hey!"

It was a suicidal move on her part but if she hadn't done that, it would have attacked Annie. It lifted its head and fixed her with a cold stare. It bared its teeth and growled menacingly. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

The growl was answered by another, directly behind her. Another raptor came to join the fray.

 _Three_ , she took stock.  _There were five. Where were the others?_

Johanna continued to back away as her eyes roamed around trying to locate Annie and Finn. She saw them facing the remaining two. Annie had a thick tree branch in her hand and was fighting them off, bringing the weapon down on them again and again, and trying to hold them at bay as she pushed Finn behind her. The blood on her arm continued to drip and the two velociraptors kept coming closer, tongue darting out to catch the blood before it hit the ground.

It frightened Johanna immensely. It was her job to protect them. Finnick would have wanted it. He was not here to protect his family and Finnick would have relied on her to keep his family safe. Worst still, she had assured Haymitch eight years ago that she would keep an eye on them when she moved to Four with Annie and her baby. Johanna did not spend eight years watching Finn grow only to have him die at the hands of these animals.

Yet here she stood unable to do anything.

The three velociraptors had gone into formation again, waiting for the right moment to strike. They stalked her, their breathing heavy and foul. The one in the middle raised its clawed hand and opened its mouth, showing off the numerous yellowed sharp teeth. It was a scare tactic she was sure, one that was designed to make her run so that the other two could pounce on her from each side, tearing her limb from limb.

Johanna was sure she was done for. This was it. This was how she was going to die.

Her eyes darted to Finn who had climbed up a tree, out of the reach of any of the predators.

"Aunt Jo!" Finn waved his hands frantically. "They can't climb trees! They don't know how to!"

She should do the same. There was a tree directly behind her but she knew the moment she turned her back on them, they would cut her open. A part of her wished that this was the Quell's arena. If she moved past the boundary of their assigned wedge, they could not follow but it wasn't so she stood tall and searched for Annie.

Annie had folded herself into a hollow tree trunk and the two velociraptors were growling angrily, trying to reach her. Finn was terrified and worried, looking at her and his mother in turn.

"Look at your mother, Finn. Watch her, make sure she's fine!"

She did not want any of their attention on her. She did not want them to see this.

Her breaths were coming out in short burst. She tried to find the terror within her but she couldn't. Maybe this was long overdue. Her Games, the Quell, the Rebellion. How many times could someone escape death?

Her fingers were clenched tight into a fist. She wasn't ready to give up the fight. Johanna did not know what made her do it - perhaps it was the adrenaline rushing through her veins – but she swung her fist and it connected with the snout of the middle raptor, the one that had been trying to scare her.

Pain shot through her fingers and up her arm. That snout was hardy. Soon, Johanna realised, not only was her arm in pain, her neck was too as she fell backwards. There was something sharp digging into her neck and pressing down on her chest. She struggled to breathe and push it off her.

It was faint but she heard the wheezing of something flying past her. The velociraptor collapsed on top of her, pinning her down. Its weight caused Johanna to inhale sharply, desperately trying to draw air into her lungs. She pushed it away from her and crawled from the fallen beast. The two that had been stalking her were not moving either and the velociraptors hunting Annie paused momentarily when it realised that its pack was down, and then they howled, disappearing into the woods.

Johanna turned around so fast her neck could have snapped.

"About damn time," she spat, pushing herself up.

Effie tucked the gun back into her belt and ran among the bushes to get to them. Haymitch smirked, lowering his rifle.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Haymitch has got himself a clingy baby raptor and the mama raptor could be one of the five or one of the three loose in Twelve! And they're all reunited now :)) See you in the next chapter. Please leave a feedback, it would mean so much. Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

**_12_ **

Effie ran downhill to get to them. Since Johanna was the nearest to her, Effie spread her arms wide open to go in for a hug except Johanna had other ideas. She grabbed Effie's arm, twisted it around behind her back in one smooth, practiced move and knocked her legs out from under her.

Johanna pinned her to the ground and sat on her with her legs on either side of Effie's torso. The loud gasp from the surprised woman made her smirk with satisfaction.

"Alright, Trinket, now you're going to tell me why there are flesh eating monsters in your park," she squeezed her arm.

"Is this necessary?" Effie struggled to breathe. "Can't we have this conversation standing up or sitting down? That's how conversations are usually carried out."

"Don't be smart with me. For your information, I was nearly eaten. Spent quite a lovely time in the jaws of a T-Rex, and Finn was attacked by birds. I don't have to tell you what happened to Annie, right? You saw it for yourself, didn't you?"

Effie craned her neck to look at Johanna. She was still struggling to free herself. "You are dirtying my clothes! Really, Johanna, I have just saved your life. The least you could do is to thank me, not sit on me. I am not a chair!" she said indignantly.

"If you're a chair, you're a fucking crappy one. While we're at the topic of what we're not, I am not food for your dinosaurs to eat," Johanna countered irritably. "You gonna start talking or what?"

"Get off her, Jo, come on," Haymitch tugged on her arm. "You're gonna crush her ribs."

"Not until she starts talking."

"You're fucking ridiculous," Haymitch growled at the same time that Annie asked, "Can we do this some place safe?"

"Oh, this is just silly! So very silly," Effie cried. "Move away from me. I'm breathing in dirt."

A sudden flash blinded them. The two women blinked in surprise and it earned a quiet chuckle from Haymitch. Finn was grinning. In his hand was his camera and he had apparently snapped a photo of Johanna sitting on top of Effie. He sidled up to Haymitch and showed the screen on the camera to him. The picture elicited a quiet snort from Haymitch.

"I'm going to kill you," Johanna hissed as she stood up, leaving Effie on the ground.

Effie sprang to her feet, dusting herself and glaring at Johanna. She forfeited the hug she had intended to give her, deciding that Johanna didn't deserve it. Instead, she pulled Finn into a tight embrace and smothered him with kisses. She checked him for injuries and when she was satisfied that they were all superficial wounds and bruises, Effie attended to Annie.

"The cut is deep," Effie announced as she inspected Annie's hand. "We need to get you out of here and to the hospital as soon as possible before it gets infected."

She had sat through enough Games to know what would happen when a wound was infected. Peeta nearly died from it if Katniss had not found him and Effie wanted to avoid Annie going down that path.

"How far away are we from the main park?" Haymitch asked.

She looked up, glancing around to get her bearings. "I am certain we are not very far off," she told the group as she shrugged out of her blouse, leaving her only in a black tank top and wrapped it around Annie's arm. "We are still in the restricted area; in the holding pen of the Minmi, to be exact. They are not dangerous but they are not very interesting either so we moved them away from the exhibition area."

"What the fuck is a Minmi?" Johanna demanded. "If it's going to kill me - "

Annie made a noise and lifted her good hand, pointing to a creature behind Haymitch that was moving slowly on its four legs. "I supposed that's a Minmi."

Finn pounced on it, cooing and stroking its armoured back. "It's a giant turtle!" he exclaimed.

Effie let out a breath. Relieved to see that he still retained the same excitement and enthusiasm even after all of his encounters.

Johanna wrinkled her brows. "Something's not adding up. If this is the holding area of that… thing," she gestured, "then why were the raptors here?"

"Haymitch, can you please," Effie sighed and turned back to Annie. "Is too tight, Annie? Do you feel giddy or like you are about to faint?"

"Half the park is gone," Haymitch began. "The power in the restricted area went out and here's where all those carnivorous dinosaurs are kept. Effie's given the order for the park to be evacuated as for the raptors…. They were in a different paddock but they escaped. They must have been in this area 'cause they were out hunting," Haymitch speculated. "It'll explain why their nests weren't guarded."

Annie and Finn was staring at him slack jaw and mouth open.

"They're not dead," he gestured to the three unconcious animals. "They're just knocked out with tranquilizers and I'm not sure how long they'll remain that way. Speaking of which, here, better arm yourself," he handed one of Effie's gun to Johanna.

"How did you know to come and get us?" Annie queried.

"There were raptors in Twelve. That's how we found out that they've escaped and I followed Effie here to get you."

"What?!" Johanna exclaimed, finally having a reaction to the news. "You've got fucking dinosaurs in Twelve? And - no, back it up here a second - did you say nests? Those monsters are breeding? Why weren't they sterilised? Or were you people stupid enough not to sterilise them when you created them?"

"They were allowed to breed on purpose," Haymitch affirmed. "Plutarch's idea."

"Are the people in Twelve safe?" Annie asked. "What about Katniss and Peeta?"

"They should be in Eleven by now. Eleven's got electrical fences that could be turned on. It should be enough. We should meet them there. Effie's activated some defense protocol involving the the military. Hawthorne and his man should be in Twelve."

"Gale?" Johanna started. She exchanged a glance with Annie and then Effie. Haymitch frowned, sensing some information he was not privy to.

"Yeah, Gale Hawthorne," Haymitch told her impatiently. "We got to go. We got to evacuate before things gets worse here."

"Could it get any worse?" Johanna snorted. "Dinosaurs escaping… Dinosaurs breeding… I mean,  _seriously_ , why the fuck did Plutarch think it was a good – "

Johanna broke off suddenly and Haymitch stilled. She tilted her head, staring in concentration at Haymitch's pocket.

"Is your pocket alive?" she frowned.

No sooner had she asked that, the baby raptor peered out of his pocket. Several set of eyes stared back at it. It gave a low whine.

"Stop starin', you're scaring it," Haymitch waved his hand.

It raised its clawed hands to slowly and cautiously lift its body up. Its small beady eyes darted around its surrounding. When it caught sight of the three fallen raptors, it climbed down Haymitch's pants and hopped towards it, sniffing the bodies. It whined and scratched at the raptors. Haymitch compared it to a child who had found its guardian or parent unconscious and was calling out for help.

"It's so cute!" Finn exclaimed, abandoning the Minmi to go after the baby raptor only to be hauled back by Johanna.

"What in hell is that?" she hissed.

"A baby raptor," Haymitch answered. "Found it at its nest."

Her eyebrows shot up. Johanna crossed her arms and glared at him. "And it's living in  _your_  pocket? You of all people… Are you fucking insane, Haymitch? It's gonna kill us!"

"It's just a baby," Finn argued. He was more than happy to allow himself be a climbing post for the raptor as it hopped up his arm and on to his head where it found a comfortable spot, gripping tight to Finn's messy blonde curls. "Look, it's not like the adults. It's not attacking me. Can you take a photo of me with it, Aunt Effie, quickly please!"

"It's going to get bigger and  _then_  it's gonna kill you," Johanna spat.

"That's what I said," Effie nodded. "I told Haymitch that it's only going to grow until it reaches the mature adult size but did he listen? No, of course not," she threw her hand up in exasperation. "When did he ever listen to me? Talk to him, Johanna. He's beyond reasoning sometimes."

Cradling her hand to her chest, Annie giggled quietly. She gave Effie and Haymitch a very fond look. "It is not every day we get to see Effie and Johanna on the same side, do we, Finn?"

"You both," Haymitch gestured with his finger, "aren't allowed to gang up on me. I've already told you, Effs, we're gonna use the baby raptor – give it over here, Finn – as bait to draw the others out."

"That's fucking ridiculous," Johanna mocked, mimicking him.

They started arguing, hissing under their breaths, gesturing wildly and rudely at each other. Effie, Annie and Finn stood by the side, waiting for them to resolve the issue. Haymitch and Johanna were both stubborn. There had been several things they had disagreed on but Johanna was always butting head with Effie and Katniss because it was fun for her, but seldom with Haymitch.

"It's not a damn pet, Haymitch, it's a killer," she hissed. "I don't care if it hasn't killed yet 'cause it will."

"Look, I don't plan on raising it as a pet. What's your fucking problem, Jo? What'd you take me for? A fool?" he scowled. "Quit worrying 'cause it won't get to  _that_  size," he pointed to the adult raptors.

"Fine, you're gonna use it as bait, yeah? Then what? As if you're gonna kill it yourself when it's done," she scoffed. "You can't even kill the fox that killed your geese."

Haymitch glanced briefly behind his shoulder at Effie, glaring at her. She smiled apologetically. Effie couldn't remember telling Johanna that story but if she knew, then she must have told her. Or perhaps it was Katniss…

"Is everyone ready or what?" Haymitch said suddenly. "We're moving. There are two more raptors out there in the forest and I want us to get out of this park before dark."

"Well…" Annie cleared her throat, looking at Johanna and Haymitch uncertainly. "I – I have read stories of people taming lions and… and being friends with them. I mean, they are wild animals just like the dinosaurs. Since it is still young, if – if you could tame it, teach it not … not to eat humans…"

"That's dumb," Johanna shut down the idea quickly. "It's an animal, Annie. It's gotta eat, it's gotta hunt. You can't change things like that. We're burning daylight," she changed the topic quickly. "Bring that damn thing if you're so hell bent on it but when the time comes, if you won't kill it, I'll kill it myself."

Haymitch rolled his eyes.

"And, you're still not off the hook, Trinket," Johanna glared at her as she passed Effie, taking the lead.

Effie suppressed a smile. She expected nothing less.

"We should think of a name, Uncle Haymitch," Finn whispered. "For the baby raptor – if we treat it real nice and call it by its name then it'll know we're friends."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johanna is the unhappiest person in Jurassic World right now.


	13. Chapter 13

Except for the sound of their footsteps on broken twigs and dried leaves, the forest that was usually full of life was quiet. It was eerie when one considered the prospect that the inhabitants in the restricted area must have somehow made it out. Haymitch did not want to think if they were still in Jurassic World or like the three raptors, had made it out of the park.

“You sure we’re going in the right direction?” Johanna glanced around just to be sure they had not passed this area before.

“Yes, yes, I believe so,” Effie nodded.

They had been following a stream which Effie insisted would lead them out.

“There should be a red gate not far ahead,” she explained. “It will take us to the main park.”

“Haymitch,” Annie laid her hand on his arm. “How are we evacuating?”

Her question gave him pause. He exchanged a glance with Effie. The initial plan was for evacuation to be by hovercraft until Fulvia informed them that it was no longer possible. All hovercrafts had been ordered to find a safe place to land once the pterodactyls were spotted flying over the air space. It was too dangerous and too risky to fly any hovercrafts.

In fact, Fulvia’s last message to them was, “I’m very sorry, Effie, you’re on your own,” as they evacuated Jurassic World on an armoured vehicle.

“We’ll figure something out,” Haymitch said, withholding the truth from them. Johanna would throw a fit and they didn’t need Annie panicking.  “Come on. Finn, keep up!”

“I know!” Finn jogged next to Haymitch. “Let’s call him Echo.”

“What? Why’s that?”

“Cause he echoes,” Finn noted. “Whenever I make a sound, it tries to mimic. Watch!”

He held out his hand and the baby Raptor hopped from Haymitch’s pocket to his palm and raised it so that the baby Raptor was on eye level with him and then Finn chirped like a bird. In a flash, the baby Raptor opened its mouth emitting a sharp cry.

“I don’t think its mimicking you. I think it is trying to communicate. They do that, you know, communicate with its kind,” Effie said. “Dr. Wu told me about it.”

“Oh,” Finn looked disappointed. “Can we still call him Echo?”

“You should start calling it Dead,” Johanna scoffed, “because that’s what it’ll be if Haymitch doesn’t keep his end of the bargain.”

“You’re mean,” Finn frowned and stormed ahead.

“Yeah, don’t forget who brought you here in the first place,” Johanna called out after him. “The least you could do – “

“There!” Annie pointed ahead. “Is that the gate, Effie?”

“Yes! Yes, we’re almost there!”

With renewed energy, the group hurried over. A Dimorphodon sat perched at the top of the gate, its eyes tracking every step they made.

“Shoot it,” Johanna hissed.

Haymitch raised his rifle and took aim. He pressed the trigger and released a tranquilizer dart which missed its target because the bird flapped its wing and flew off, swooping threateningly low over the group before it flew vertically upwards.

“Crazy fucker,” Johanna muttered under her breath.

Together with Haymitch, they pushed the heavy red gate opened and the five of them emerged on the other side.

The main park was unrecognisable. It was desolate and destroyed.

Haymitch stepped behind Finn and covered his eyes with his hand. Not understanding what was happening, Finn struggled only to have Haymitch pressed his face against his side so he wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Next to him, Effie gave a small whimper with a hand over her mouth. She stared, horrified and shocked at the scene in front of her. This wasn’t the park she knew.

Annie was frozen. Johanna was unfazed by the sight. She walked over to one of the bodies and turned it over.

“Killed by the birds,” she told them, indicating the stab wounds. She stood up and surveyed the multiple bodies, both humans and animals on the ground. “That one,” she pointed in front of her, “his skull’s crush. Is that his brain on the floor?”

“Stop it, Jo,” Effie hissed, glancing worriedly in Annie’s directions.

“It is what it is,” Johanna shrugged. “Trampled on by one of your dinosaurs from the looks of it. Terrible price to pay just to see extinct animals come to live.”

“Can we go?” Annie pleaded.

 Ignoring her, Johanna turned to Effie. “How many guests did you have in here?”

“Thousands before we closed off the park,” she answered. “Lesser than what we usually have.”

“It’s a good thing you’ve got some brains on you to close the damn park off. How many dead you think?”

“Dead? Who died? What’s dead? Are we gonna be okay?” Finn asked, picking on the tail end of the conversation. His voice was muffled. Again, he tried to break free, tugging on Haymitch’s arm uselessly.

“Stay still, boy,” Haymitch growled. “Don’t stop. Keep walkin’.”

“Yeah, sure, but what’s the plan here? You want us to walk through the woods to get to Twelve? ‘Cause that’s a crazy plan.”

“Find a car or a truck, something we can use,” Haymitch directed.

Without another word, Johanna walked off. The rest followed her lead, careful to avoid stepping on the dead bodies and carcass around them. Haymitch guided Finn, still adamant about not letting the boy see anything that could cause him nightmares.

All around them were corpses; no wounded. Haymitch took it as a sign that they managed to get out or had been evacuated. The five of them were the only ones left.

“Over here,” Johanna waved them over. “I recognise this junction. It’s where we took the photo with the mechanical raptor. The entrance would be nearby. You can let Finn go, Haymitch, there’s nothing much to see here.”

Haymitch released the boy from his grip after making sure that there were no dead bodies sprawled around them.

“Woah,” Finn breathed. He lowered his voice. “Come look at this Uncle Haymitch. Look, the T-Rex’s got out!”

At the mere mention of the tyrannosaurus, everyone froze.

In the distance, with only its head visible above the walls, they spotted the dinosaur. Haymitch’s eyes roamed the area, noting that the entrance gates were damaged and knocked down. There was a gaping hole and that was where the tyrannosaurus must have gotten out as did all the other dinosaurs.

“It’s going to fucking kill everyone if it gets to the districts,” Johanna whispered urgently.

“Very likely,” Haymitch nodded. “Sweetheart, isn’t your ACU in charge of bringing the damn t-rex down? It has pursued us from the swamp all the way to the Raptor’s nest and look, it is _still_ standing right there very much alive and unharmed!”

“They have no orders to kill. Plutarch forbade it.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Johanna hissed. “That thing nearly killed me!”

“Override his order,” Haymitch snapped. “Tell the ACU shoot to kill. Don’t attack it with non-lethal. It’s gonna get very ugly if it gets to the districts. Look around you, people have died in here. We don’t need more casualties out there.”

“Where’s your ACU anyway? I don’t see them here,” Johanna frowned.

Effie stretched across and grabbed a fallen handheld radio transmitter. She twisted the knob to the right channel and pressed it into Annie’s hand, the person nearest to her.

“Contact the ACU. Ask for their location,” she ordered. “I’m going to call Plutarch.”

Effie went for her phone, trying and failing to get through to Plutarch or Fulvia.

“I’m not getting through! I can’t get a signal.”

“All I get is static,” Annie informed them.

“Fuck,” Haymitch cursed. Looking around, he spotted a truck. “Come on, we can use that to make it back to Twelve.”

“And then what?” Johanna asked.

“Then we warn Gale Hawthorne and his men about the T-Rex. At least _they_ are not under Plutarch’s command. They won’t hesitate to kill the T-Rex if it made it that far. We should move now.”

They filed out in a single straight line, crouching low to avoid being spotted by the tyrannosaurus. None of them noticed Effie, at the end of the line, who turned away from the group when she heard a familiar cry.

“Trinket!” Johanna hissed, calling out for her when they reached the truck only to realise Effie was missing.

“Sweetheart? For fuck’s sake, where are you? Effie!”

With a disgruntled complain about how Effie only knew how to stir trouble, Johanna joined Haymitch on the ground, calling out and searching for her.

“If you don’t come back in five minutes, Trinket, I’m leaving you behind! I don’t care.”

“You’re not leavin’ her behind,” Haymitch snapped at her. “She risked life and limb to look for you, now you’re gonna do the same.”

“Trinket!” Johanna bellowed once the tyrannosaurus was out of view. “Damn it, Haymitch, we have to make it to Twelve before that thing reaches it first.”

“I’m here!” Effie emerged from one of the lanes, tottering on her high heels. “Not that truck! We have to take the other one!”

“Why?”

“Cause this one’s design to carry heavy loads.”

“And why do we need – “ Haymitch broke off.

“Oh, fuck no, not you too,” Johanna stomped her foot angrily. “We’re running for our lives and you’re adopting pets?”

Effie ignored her, running back to give assistance to the animal. She moved behind it and gently nudged its back, encouraging it to move along.

“Come on, come along. My poor baby, look at you,” she wiped the trickle of blood from the triceratops’ hind leg.

“Baby Bop!” Finn exclaimed, running towards her. “It’s Baby Bop, she made it! She’s alive!”

Haymitch opened his mouth to say something but Effie beat him to it.

“No, you don’t get to say anything. You have Echo.”

“If it’s bleeding, it means it’s being pursued by something,” Johanna argued. “Don’t be fucking stupid, Trinket, leave it alone and get in the damn – “

Johanna’s eyes widened. But she acted fast. She raised her hand and fired. The Raptor creeping quietly behind Effie and the triceratops fell. The other scampered away before Johanna or Haymitch could bring it down.

Effie glanced back, appalled. “Thank you,” she turned towards Johanna. “Help me with this please.”

“We’re not taking it!” Johanna screamed, losing her temper. “We already have a mini raptor in Finn’s hand, we don’t need another.”

“Well, I can’t leave her behind. She’ll die!” Effie argued. “She’s just a baby. And unlike Haymitch’s raptor, this one is harmless. Besides, some from its herd are dead and if there are any alive, I don’t know where they are. It needs our protection.”

“You’re joking, right? Protection? It’s got horns,” Johanna stared at her pointedly. “It can protect itself. Make it angry and it’ll charge at you and kill you.”

“It’s not a rhinoceros.”

“What difference does it make?”

“Please,” Annie pleaded. “Let’s not argue. Please, let’s just go.”

“You’re going to help or what?” Haymitch raised an eyebrow at Johanna. “I want to get out of here and if it means bringing that with us then just do it.”

“Yeah, of course, you’ll say that,” Johanna scoffed. “You’re the one with a killer dinosaur.”

Begrudgingly, Johanna rendered her assistance. The three of them hauled the injured triceratops on to the back of the pick-up truck.

“Fucking crazy, both of you,” Johanna muttered darkly under her breath as she took her place at the back with the triceratops, Annie and Finn.

“Try to be comforting. It’s an injured animal,” Effie told her. “It doesn’t need the stress.”

Johanna raised her hand and made a rude gesture which left Effie sputtering with anger and Haymitch chuckling.

“Echo, meet Baby Bop. Baby Bop, this is Echo. Be nice to each other,” Finn introduced which only made Johanna rolled her eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**_ 14 _ **

Haymitch pressed his foot on the pedal and the vehicle lurched forward, tires screeching angrily. The truck raced ahead but it was not going fast enough for Haymitch's liking. It was difficult to when there was a triceratops at the back, weighing the vehicle down.

His eyes flickered to the rear view mirror to see Finn patting the dinosaur comfortingly. Johanna was alert, gun held tight in her hand while Annie was just glad to see the park disappearing behind them.

"Can't you go faster?" Effie asked, glancing out of the window every so often to check for danger.

"I could if you didn't drag that damn dinosaur along with - "

"Oh, not that argument again," she pinched her lips. "You have Echo at the back with Finn."

Haymitch smirked at the use of the raptor's name as he reached out to squeeze her knee.

"We'll get there," he assured her.

He made sure to drive as far away from the roaming tyrannosaurus as possible. It wasn't such a difficult feat to accomplish since the tyrannosaurus didn't appear to be in a hurry to go anywhere. It was leisurely basking in its newfound freedom.

Once in a while, it would give off a loud, massive roar as if to remind any living beings nearby the kind of fearsome beast that it was. Each time it roared, Haymitch spied movements from his peripheral vision; some much smaller dinosaurs running as far away from the tyrannosaurus as possible.

Lumbering in the distance was a lone brontosaurus. Haymitch drove right between its legs and under its belly which resulted in a very surprise gasp from Finn.

"That was so cool!" Finn tapped on the window separating them.

The woods separating Twelve from Jurassic World started to thin out, and soon, Haymitch saw a glimpse of the familiar outline of District Twelve.

"Still got your gun on you?" Haymitch asked.

"Yes," Effie nodded and patted the holster.

"Johanna, you ready? Keep your eyes open for raptors... or any other animals that might have made it here," Haymitch raised his voice to be heard.

When the truck came to a stop, Johanna jumped out of it and took point with her gun raised protectively in front of her. Effie helped the others out and with Finn's assistance, cajoled Baby Bop down from the truck. Echo was perched on Baby Bop's frill.

"They became friends," Finn smiled proudly at Effie.

"An unlikely friendship has blossomed!" Effie gushed, indulging him. "Just like your Uncle Haymitch and I, a long time ago..."

XxX

District Twelve was a ghost town.

The district was silent and gave off an eerie vibe. Plumes of smoke rose up in the sky and there was a putrid stench in the air.

There was no one around which Haymitch took as a good sign. It would mean that they had gotten out.  _Or they could all be dead_ , whispered a treacherous voice.

"Where's the army? I thought you activated the military, Effie?" Annie asked, looking around and taking her surroundings in. "Could it be that - "

An explosion went off. The group flinched and huddled together near the truck. When Haymitch looked up, he saw bits and pieces of flesh up in the air.

"The army's definitely here  _and_ I think they just blew up some dinosaurs," Johanna remarked with far too much glee.

Effie remained frozen, her face a mask of disbelief. "They're using explosives? A little bit over the top, isn't it?"

"Cloning extinct animals for entertainment - a little bit over the top, isn't it?" Johanna mimicked and mocked her. "We've got to find them."

Haymitch was just about to suggest the same so he gestured them all to start moving, warning them to be careful. Instead of giving him any assurance, the military's presence was adding to his worry. He was now worrying about the dinosaurs and the military accidentally blowing them to pieces.

The further into Twelve they went, the more destruction they came across. In retrospect, it was not too bad compared to what Haymitch had returned to after the Capitol bombed the district. Still, it was unsettling to see blood splattered on the walls and the corpses of dead animals on the streets.

"What is it with Twelve's luck, huh," Johanna muttered under her breath and glanced at Effie out of the corner of her eyes, "to be the district closest to the main park?"

Effie refused to rise to the bait since she had nothing to do with choosing the location of the park. It was unfortunate, if anything, not deliberate.

"Aunt Effie," Finn's hand shot out to touch her arm, stopping her in her tracks. Baby Bop bumped against her back. "Look at that man - what's wrong with him? He's all... big. He looks weird."

It was clear from where Haymitch was standing that the man was dead. Taking a hold of his arm, Annie steered Finn away as the three other adults approached the body.

The stench was strong. It was not the smell of a decomposing body but a mixture of the blood and the yellow glob covering many areas on the man's torso.

Effie covered her mouth, forcing the bile down her throat when she saw the state the body was in.

"Oh shit," Haymitch stared.

"What the fuck happened to him? I've never seen…." Johanna trailed off. Despite the smell, Johanna squatted next to the corpse. She examined the body curiously and prodded it with a long branch she found on the ground.

With steady hand, Johanna carefully scraped the yellow substance off his skin with the thin branch, especially around his face which had bloated up, blotched with blue and black. What horrified Effie beyond belief was the gaping hole in his stomach.

"Somethin' ate him," Haymitch remarked, gesturing to the strewn intestines. His own hand was resting on his stomach, right at the place where Effie knew the scar from the axe wound was.

"Yeah, something was having a good feast. See here," Johanna pointed to the teeth marks all over the man's body.

"Oh! Dilophosaurus," Effie gasped now that she suddenly remembered about the existence of those animals.

Johanna didn't even bat an eyelash. She merely craned her neck upwards to look at Effie. "What's that now?"

"It's a breed of dinosaurs… Carnivores as you would expect. They're smaller than the velociraptors but also hunt in packs. They're never alone. They… They are venomous and they spit the venom out," Effie gestured to the man's face, "to decapitate their victims and paralyse them. Then they… they…," she swallowed.

"Attack their victims," Johanna finished what Effie couldn't. "You know something, Trinket? I'm not going to even bother asking why your park has such lethal monsters in it."

"So Plutarch thought having dinosaurs with venom would attract more visitors?" Haymitch arched an eyebrow.

Effie inhaled deeply. She knew they did not mean it that way but she could not dispel the feeling that they were partly blaming her for it. Perhaps they were right to. Perhaps she should have put her foot down when the carnivores were being sent to the park and more carnivorous species were being cloned but she didn't and now people were dead because of it.

"Dr. Wu manipulated one of the dilophosaurus' genes," she explained as she slowly began to recall the discussion she heard between Plutarch and Dr. Wu at the lab during one of her rounds.

"What for? To make them bigger? Give them more teeth so they look scarier? Change the colour of their skin so they'll look more attractive?" Haymitch scoffed.

"No, it wasn't for aesthetic purposes. It was practical – to eat carcass. They were supposed to function the way vultures and flies do. The MGI wanted to emulate that trait into a single species. They were designed to eat everything; dead animals which died in the park from various reasons and to eat dungs. The park needed something to handle waste control and this seemed to be the brilliant solution. You have absolutely no idea how much waste dinosaurs produce each day.

"Backfired,  _again,"_ Johanna snorted.

"And the venom? That was designed into them too?" Haymitch asked. His voice was heavily laced with derision. It was spoken in a tone which conveyed just how stupid he thought the whole plan was.

"No," Effie shook her head. "No."

"Dilophosaurus spits venom!" Finn chimed in when he picked up bits and pieces of their conversation from where he was standing with his mother. "And then they kill their prey afterwards. We've got dilophosaurus here?"

"Oh, is that what those nasty buggers are called?" a voice asked.

All of them turned to find a soldier in black uniform walking slowly towards them. There was a collective sigh of relief to know that the army was still here.

"Whatever its name, it's best if you all leave this district right now until it's declared safe. If you're here, I'm guessing you didn't make it for the evacuation from the park?"

"No, we missed it," Effie spoke, taking a step forward which gave him a clear view of what had partially been hidden before. It was enough for the soldier to raise his gun.

He aimed directly to Effie's right.

"Oh, no! No, no, no!" There was a sudden flash of movement and Effie was now suddenly standing protectively in front of Baby Bop, arms raised and spread open. "This one is  _very_  tame and is not a danger to you or to me."

"Step away from it," the soldier ordered. "We've been ordered to shoot all dinosaurs on sight. Now step away."

"Haymitch," Effie hissed. "Do something."

"Actually,  _really_  tame," Finn spoke up instead. "See," he went to the triceratops and stroked its horn lovingly. "This one, too."

Finn extended his arm and Echo hopped on it. It tilted its head at the soldier and then at Finn who let Echo move from his arm to cling on Haymitch's sleeve. Haymitch plucked the raptor to keep it in his pocket, out of the soldier's sight.

The soldier watched their every move, frowning deeply. Then he dipped his head to speak to the radiophone attached to his vest on his chest.

"Soldier Hawthorne, we have a situation."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter of Raptors is currently being written! Raptors is supposed to end in three chapters but since I have a habit of cutting long chapters into two (like this chapter for instance!) then I'd say that Raptors should end in the next five chapters :))) 
> 
> I'll post the next chapter this weekend! So see you in the next one in which Haymitch meets the dilophosaurus and run into some trouble.
> 
> In the meantime, please leave a review.


	15. Chapter 15

**_ 15 _ **

"Terrible creatures you've got cooked up in that park," Gale said coolly.

"I'm the Operations Manager for Jurassic World. That means I managed the park and the assets. I do not wear a white coat in a lab, Soldier Hawthorne," Effie told him off.

"Didn't seem like you did a good job  _managing_  anything."

Effie narrowed her eyes at his tone and at the implication that followed. She had never quite liked Gale Hawthorne and was only usually polite to him because he was Katniss' friend and because her manners dictate her to. Effie usually tried to turn a blind eye to the cold looks he threw her ways each time their paths crossed and their paths had crossed a lot when Johanna was -

"Watch how you speak to her," Haymitch warned.

"Yeah, how is it that you managed to get under everyone's skin within the first five minutes of you being here?" Johanna scowled.

"Could say the same about you," Gale muttered. "Hello, Johanna."

She shook her head at him and asked derisively, "Having fun?"

"Depends on what you think is fun," he shrugged. "Now," he turned to speak to Effie, "you don't plan on keeping that monster do you?"

"Baby Bop is  _not_  a monster, thank you very much," Effie crossed her arms, clearly unhappy and quite frankly fed up with people referring to the dinosaurs in the park as monsters.

Haymitch rested his hand on the small of her back. At his touch, she began to calm down slightly.

"You better brief me on what's happened to my district; where are Katniss and Peeta? What about the raptors - are they dead or what?"

Gale clenched his jaws. He was displeased and not used to reporting to someone who wasn't his superior.

"They're safe. They did what you told them to do. The got as many people out as possible and they're now in District Eleven. You better head that way, too. My men will provide assistance. From the looks of it, the park has completely fallen and we're going to get more coming this way."

"Oh, yeah," Johanna snickered. "You're going to have your hands full with a fucking t-rex. It's headed straight this way."

Annie, whose main concern was the safety of her son had enough of them standing around in an alleyway while there were dinosaurs around, talking and arguing amongst themselves.

"How do we get to Eleven?" she asked. Her eyes strayed to the direction where the train station was located.

"Not by train," the soldier they had met earlier spoke up when he saw Annie's gaze. "The trains are down. One of the dinosaurs knocked an oncoming train off its rail. The entire railroad from Twelve to Ten is blocked for now. Engineers are too afraid to fix it with the current situation. Hovercrafts have been ordered to do an emergency landing. Most hovercrafts are not taking off until it is safe to do; probably when all those damn birds are shot out of their air. President Paylor has declared a nationwide state of emergency."

"Nationwide? Even in the City?" Effie asked.

"Even in the City," Gale affirmed. "Those evacuated from the park were brought to District Thirteen; after Twelve, it's the nearest and being underground means Thirteen's the safest bet. Reporters in the City are looking for you, from what I heard," he added. "When this mess is over, you're gonna have a field day answering to the press and explaining yourself to the public. Let's hope that'll be easier than managing a park."

"Don't be such a bitch, Gale," Johanna huffed.

Gale ignored Johanna. Adjusting his grip on his gun, he spoke to Haymitch, "Your plan was good. The fence in Eleven has been turned on but we're not sure how long it'll hold. A small part of it has been trampled on. Turns out fleeing dinosaurs don't bother much about electrical fences. Those that hit the fence dies and the rest just stepped on their corpses to continue with wherever they're headed."

"Are you serious?" Johanna asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. "So Eleven's not safe?"

"It's still safe for now. We have dispatched units in every district and ordered everyone to take cover in the bomb shelter. If they stay out of sight of those animals, it will minimise the risk of them being a prey."

Haymitch nodded. After Twelve was bombed to the ground, Haymitch's first suggestion to President Paylor when she was elected was for her administration to build sturdy bomb shelters in every district.

"Why didn't you ask Katniss and Peeta to take everyone to the bomb shelter here? Why did you ask them to go to Eleven?" Effie frowned.

"Because Twelve's right next to the park. If the park falls, which it has, the next place those dinosaurs would be is here. We've got no fence to keep anything out. That'll be our first line of defence and without it, I ain't sure how safe it'll be even if they're hiding in the bomb shelter.. Eleven still has fences to protect their crops," he answered before speaking to Gale once again. "What about the Raptors? There were three loose in this district."

"Two has been killed. The other has fled," said the soldier, William, according to the name on his vest."

"These raptors… They're organised from the way they attacked and defended themselves. Took two of my men down," Gale frowned. "The one that fled… I'm thinking it's gone off to join others of its kind… We heard a rallying cry before it fled, maybe they're regrouping."

"They hunt in packs, so the chances of that happening is quite high," Effie told him.

"They are  _very_  smart," Finn piped in, nodding proudly but quickly fell silent at the glare Gale sent his way.

"Speaking of raptors… aren't you gonna give it to them," Johanna stared at Haymitch and then at his pocket pointedly.

"What?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Johanna huffed. She took the two steps to cross the gap between her and Haymitch, and plunged her hand into Haymitch's pocket much to his displeasure. He didn't find being manhandled amusing at all.

"No! No!" Finn reacted and lunged at his aunt. He tugged and pulled on Johanna's arm until she stepped back, raising both hands up in the air. "You can't! Please, you can't."

"I  _told_  you, Finn. I told you that - "

"He's got something in his pocket, I saw it," William gestured with his gun.

"Shut your mouth," Haymitch growled.

"We don't have time for this," Gale interrupted them. "All of you need to leave. We have established a safety grid and where you're standing, you ain't in it. From what I heard, Beetee is waiting for Plutarch Heavensbee at Thirteen and if he hasn't reached, well I'm assuming that you'll be the next person he wants," Gale turned to look at Effie. "They flew Beetee from Three to Thirteen before the hovercrafts were frozen. Bring them all to Eleven, Will. You know where to take them. There'll be other arrangements in Eleven, I supposed."

"What? That dinosaur, too?"

"Yes,  _that_ dinosaur, too," Effie huffed. "Now lead on! My friend here," she waved at Annie, "is in dire need of medical attention or have you not seen her hand?"

"Leave that dinosaur," Gale ordered.

"Absolutely not! If you take step a closer, Katniss will hear about it!"

It was a low blow but it worked. Gale stopped in his track at the mention of Katniss. Johanna scowled at him. Effie glanced at Haymitch and his expression was a cross between surprise and pride.

"She's harmless," Effie changed her tone, pleading with them. "Look," she extended her hand at the triceratops and it nudged her hand gently. "It won't even bite."

Gale stared at her and then he shrugged. "The destructions' on you already, what's a little bit more if that dinosaur goes crazy, huh? If you take responsibility for it, I won't shoot it."

"Careful, boy," Haymitch growled. "If she hadn't acted fast and called you in, it would be even worse. You don't put that blame on her."

"She's my responsibility," Effie stressed the fact. She rested her hand on Haymitch's arm gently. "Let's go, Haymitch. Let's go."

"The same goes for that thing you've got hiding, Haymitch," Gale added. "If it so much as bares its teeth, I've got people ordered to put it down."

"It's just a baby. Dogs bare its teeth when they're angry, too!" Finn frowned and hurried after the departing adults when Gale nudged him away.

William took the lead followed by Effie and Haymitch with Baby Bop between them. Behind them, she heard Finn whispered to Johanna, "why is Uncle Gale so mean? Is it 'cause you aren't friends with him anymore?"

"Cause he's an asshole," Johanna shrugged.

"Johanna!" Annie chided her. "That's no way to speak about him. He was just following orders, besides, if we're talking about something else, you didn't give him a chance."

XxX

"Where are we going?" asked Effie.

William barely glanced at them as he answered, "underground."

"That's very informative," Effie made a snide remark. "Where exactly is that?"

"It's somewhere in the Seam. Don't ask him too many questions. We don't want to irritate him," Haymitch spoke, his voice low.

His eyes strayed to the animal between them and Effie nodded in understanding. They walked silently, always on their guard as they kept themselves alert for any danger that might unexpectedly crop up.

Even then, nothing prepared them for what happened next.

Soldier William went down first, clawing at his face desperately. A thick yellow glob was covering most of his face and Haymitch rushed forward to attend to him only to have Johanna screaming behind him.

He had never heard Johanna screamed that way before which only meant that she was in tremendous pain.

"Get Finn!" Haymitch shouted. "Get him away now!"

Effie didn't need to be told twice. She pushed Finn forward and dragged Annie away from Johanna. They took shelter in what had once been a tailor shop.

William was writhing on the floor, clawing at Haymitch's arm desperately. Haymitch was pushing down on his shoulder, raising his voice and trying to tell the man to breathe. Next to him, Johanna laid face down, moaning and grunting in pain.

"Stay here, Annie," Effie ordered. "I'm going to help. They need my help."

Effie ran forward and crouched next to Johanna. With a grunt, she turned Johanna on her back and pinned the younger woman's hands on her sides.

"Stop struggling. Johanna, please stop struggling, please. I'm trying to get it off you," she pleaded, using her sleeves to desperately wipe the yellow liquid off her face, careful to keep it from touching her own skin.

Now that she had seen it, Effie had an inkling of what had attacked them and judging by the looks he was giving her, so did Haymitch. It was the same substance they had seen on the corpse earlier – Dilophosaurus' venom – which meant that the creatures were nearby. They were not attacking the soldier or Johanna because Haymitch and Effie were still there.

"I can't see! I can't fucking see anything," Johanna shrieked with a note of panic. "The damn thing's blinded me."

"No, no, you're not blind. Just keep your eyes shut, okay," Effie tried to keep her voice steady. "Don't let it get into your eyes. It didn't get into your eyes and you musn't let it. You're not blind, Johanna. It got to your cheeks and under your eyes and they're swelling up. Just… Just don't open your eyes or the venom will get in."

"He's dead," Haymitch came to a crouch next to her and raised Johanna's head on to his lap. "Those damn things spat its venom directly into his mouth and his face. His tongue swelled up, he choked."

Having heard that, it only made Johanna trashed harder against them, nearly knocking Effie off.

"We need to get off the streets," Haymitch panted. "Keep still, Jo! You ain't helping! I'm trying to -"

The attack came from Haymitch's left. Effie saw the projectile of the spit as it moved in a slow arch through the air before landing on Haymitch's arm. He flinched immediately and hissed, cradling his arm to his chest.

"Fuck," he breathed. "It burns."

"It's got you? Can you imagine that in my eyes?!" Johanna demanded and pushed herself up. "Come on, we got to go before we're eaten!"

She was scrambling in a circle trying to find her bearing, disoriented and wheezing. Johanna went for her gun but Effie jumped on her, wrestling the gun away.

"Stop, Johanna, please! You can't shoot straight in your condition. You're gonna kill someone by accident. No, Annie, stay where you – "

Despite her small size, Annie grabbed Johanna around her neck and tugged. Johanna released her hold on the gun and Effie fell back on her bottom at the same time that Finn grabbed Johanna's hand and dragged her towards the tailor shop. Once she had gotten up, Effie handed the gun over to Annie.

"I don't know how to use it," Annie stared at the weapon.

"It's okay. I didn't either. But you'll learn."

"I can't."

"Well then, just hold on it until Johanna … Just hold on to it for the time being."

"We need to get out of here," Haymitch repeated. He tried to use his hand to push himself up but it collapsed from under him. "Can't feel my hand," he noted.

With his remaining good hand, Haymitch took off the rifle slung across his shoulder to hand it over to Effie. Behind them, they could already hear movements. The urgency to get off the street became more pressing.

"You gotta use it, sweetheart. I'm no good trying to shoot anything with one hand."

Nodding, Effie took the rifle from him and helped him up. From her peripheral vision, Effie saw them emerged into the open. There were four of them, standing on their hind legs, staring at Effie and Haymitch and seizing them up. One of its head snapped back and when it opened its mouth, Haymitch took a quick step to stand in front of Effie.

The venom landed on Haymitch's neck. He opened his mouth in a gasp, eyes wide open. Effie stared, surprised.

When Haymitch took a deep shuddering breath, Effie became fearful.

"Haymitch?"

"I can't feel my face," Johanna's voice rose among the noises the Dilophosaurus were making.

Effie reacted. She shoved Haymitch away roughly. He tumbled to where Johanna and Finn were, clutching his neck and trying to take in as much air as possible.

 _He's choking,_  she thought desperately.  _His neck will swell and it will press against his windpipe._

"Look out!" Finn cried a warning.

The four animals came at them, hooting one after another. Effie acted purely on instinct. She raised the rifle and fired at the one closest to them. The remaining three hissed in anger. The spit from three different directions were aimed directly at her but Effie moved back hastily. The yellow viscous liquid landed directly inches from her shoes. There were splattered droplets on her toes and she could already feel them going numb.

They tried again and was about to release their venom when Effie was thrown roughly to the side. She watched as Baby Bop charged forward, stomping on one of the Dilophosaurus. The remaining two backed away.

Echo, who had released itself from Haymitch's pocket hopped on its feet and jumped on the fallen dilophosaurus' chest. It struggled but with its bottom half crushed from Baby Bop's weight, there was not much for the Dilophosaurus to do. Echo bit its neck; its small sharp teeth sinking into the animal's flesh. Echo pulled roughly, tearing bits of flesh out. It repeated that act over and over until the Dilophosaurus moved no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to write Gale as being too mean but well, he turned out that way.


	16. Chapter 16

**_ 16 _ **

The scent of the venom hung in the air even as Effie and Annie worked to wipe the thickening lumps from Haymitch’s and Johanna’s skin before it could crust over.

Finn, on the other hand, was sitting cross legged on the floor with Echo perched on his shoulder, watching Haymitch and Johanna carefully.

“Now you really gotta call it Echo and not Dead.”

 “Whatever,” Johanna mumbled, wincing slightly at the pain it was causing her to speak.

“It did save your life,” Annie pointed out as she pressed the wet cloth gently against Johanna’s cheek. The left side of her face had swell up and right to under her eye, and it was severely affecting her vision.

“You won’t hear me say this often but Trinket saved my life – not the raptor.”

“Or Baby Bob?” Finn grinned. “We’re lucky Aunt Effie brought her along. She was such a badass!”

“Language,” Effie chided him gently. “Don’t pick up those words from Johanna.”

“Sorry… Will Uncle Haymitch be okay?” Finn asked to change the subject.

Ten minutes ago, Haymitch had been rasping for breath. Now, he lay slumped against Effie with his head pillowed on her lap, breathing deeply through his nose. By all accounts, he was better but his condition was not up to Effie’s satisfaction.

“He’ll be okay. He has to.”

Effie rubbed her thumb in circles gently on his neck at the spot where he had been spat on in an attempt to help him regain the feeling. Like Johanna, his neck and his arm were swollen.

“Sweetheart?” he blinked up at her. “We can’t… Stay.”

“Are you feeling better?” she brushed his hair back. “I know we can’t stay here for long. Gale said something about a safety grid…. But you’re in no shape to move yet. I’m afraid that it might take a toll on you.”

 “You help me,” he grunted. “Then we move.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do, just lie still for a while. Just for a little while, okay? Do you know where the underground place is?”

Effie reached for his hand and began rubbing his fingers to get the blood flowing and chase the numbness away. He sighed and mumbled something she couldn’t catch.

“Where’s that, Haymitch?”

“Let’s give him five more minutes,” Annie touched Effie’s arm gently.

Johanna sighed impatiently but said nothing. She kept prodding her face and Annie kept swatting her hand away. Neither of them expected Finn to snap a photo of it.

“I don’t think you should have taken a photo of her looking like that,” Effie told him.

“It’s okay,” Finn shrugged. “It’s a story. One day, we’re gonna look at the photo and remember today.”

It was some time later when Haymitch pushed himself up with Effie’s help. He clenched and unclenched his fist to test the feeling on his arm and gingerly touched his neck.

“Can you breathe properly?”

“It’ll have to do,” he declared. “We shouldn’t have stayed… here for as long as we had. I’m worried that Gale may thought we’ve gone off to Eleven and he could blast this place up. Everyone….” he heaved a breath, “everyone okay to move?”

His worries were not unfounded so Effie didn’t try to insist they wait a bit more. She glanced over at Johanna who was understandably in an irritable mood. She might only have one good vision at the moment but she had a whole lot of temper.

“We were waiting for you,” Johanna said but the words were hard to make out with the half side of her lips swollen. “Where to?”

“The Seam where the Hob used to be,” Haymitch answered. “Miners from long ago dug up a passageway….. It connects to Eleven. Underground – that’s what the soldier meant.”

With three injured people, progress was slow. Finn kept walking ahead but Effie would always pull him back and told him to keep to their pace. She didn’t need him face to face with a dinosaur if he walked ahead without any of them with him. Effie had suggested that they return to look for Gale so that they could ask for another soldier to assist them but that would take up too much time and a waste of Gale’s manpower, and since Haymitch knew where they were supposed to go, they pressed on.

Haymitch didn’t show it but the walk was affecting him so Effie was mindful to let him stop for a minute or two to catch his breath before they resumed walking. Johanna kept losing her balance and stumbling on her feet because her depth of perception was off. That was until Annie suggested that she held on to Baby Bop’s frill to guide her.

Effie had always been a worrier and right now, her anxiety had skyrocketed. She worried about Haymitch and if he could make it to Eleven. She worried about Johanna and if she lost her sight, Effie didn’t think she could ever forgive herself. She worried about Finn. The boy was relatively unharmed except for a few bruises and scrapes but he had good people looking out for him and with Haymitch and Johanna injured, Effie didn’t think she could protect him as well as they did. The sight of Annie’s bandage worried her too. The wound could be infected and the last thing they all need was for Annie to have blood infection.

She worried about Echo and about Baby Bop, too. She was particularly fond of Baby Bop since she had witnessed the triceratops’ hatching after all. Unlike Echo, Baby Bop was not small enough to be hidden in someone’s pocket. She would be noticed and people would not be happy with her presence and she wasn’t sure how far they could keep Baby Bop with them.

“She can come with us, can’t she, Haymitch?” Effie bit on her bottom lip. “Will she be able to fit through the entrance? She’s not _that_ big, after all.”

“We’ll try,” Johanna said, surprising them all. “The problem will be in Eleven. People are bound to ask about her.”

It was a long underground walkway and the moment they entered, Effie’s eyes darted all around them. After spending some time in Thirteen, she did not expect herself to be underground again.

Haymitch reached out for her hand and murmured in her ear, “I’m here.”

Five minutes in, they spotted two soldiers patrolling the walkway. They were stopped and the soldiers stared at the triceratops.

“Gale Hawthorne gave his clearance,” Effie informed them.

They narrowed their eyes and contacted Gale through their radio.

“Are they all safe? They all made it underground?” Gale’s voice cackled through the radio. “There should be five of them.”

Haymitch gestured for them to hand the device over to him.

“We’re all here – all accounted for. Gale, we lost your man. I’m sorry,” Haymitch told him. “He protected us.”

“I know. I couldn’t get through him but we found his body. You guys okay?”

“Yeah, yeah we are.”

“Good. See you when all this is over.”

“Listen,” Haymitch paused briefly. “You stay alive, you understand?”

“You too,” Gale answered after a while. “Keep them all safe.”

Once Haymitch had returned the radio, the soldier waved his hand and told them to keep on moving. It took the group about an hour before they reached the end of the tunnel. When they emerged, Haymitch inhaled deeply, glad for the fresh air and Effie wondered if the stale air underground made his ability to breathe so much worse.

They emerged on to the Square where more soldiers were stationed. Several pair of eyes flitted to their direction but nobody stopped them and nobody tried to shoot Baby Bop on sight.

 _Perhaps Gale had informed them…_ Effie thought.

“Haymitch Abernathy?” a soldier approached them.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“We were told to keep a look out for you. Miss Everdeen and Mr. Mellark are waiting. This way please.”

They were led to Eleven’s bomb shelter where Katniss and Peeta were standing outside, craning their neck left and right, searching for someone. There were three soldiers standing guard, surrounding them. The war had been won eight years ago and they were still protecting their mockingjay.

Once they came within Peeta’s line of sight, he rushed forward to envelope Annie into a hug and clapped Haymitch’s shoulder. “We were so worried! We kept hearing about how bad the situation at the park was but nobody could tell us anything.”

Behind him, Katniss sighed in relief when she saw they were all alive and standing in front of her. She embraced Finn and Effie, telling them she was glad to see them again.

 “Spare me,” Johanna snorted when Katniss turned towards her, hesitating briefly. She seemed relieved that she didn’t have to hug Johanna.

“What happened to your face?”

“Long story,” Johanna waved her off and then she winked. “You like how I look?”

 Katniss was clearly startled by it and then she frowned when she began to notice the torn holes on Johanna’s ribcage from the tyrannosaurus’ teeth and Annie’s wrapped hands.

“You need the hospital.”

“No shit,” Johanna said.

“There are a handful of injured here so they’ve set up a medical corner in the bomb shelter temporarily until it is safe to bring people to the hospital. I’ll take you.”

“What’s that?” Peeta pointed to Baby Bop. “Why’d you bring it here?”

“Another long story,” Haymitch answered. “But it saved all of our lives – that’s the important thing. Gale’s allowed it to come as long as Effie takes responsibility for it.”

“That’s going to be difficult because Beetee is waiting in District Thirteen,” Katniss folded her arms. “He’s waiting on Plutarch but Plutarch’s gone off the radar. Any idea where he is?”

“Plutarch and Fulvia were the last to evacuate the park after everyone else have been evacuated. They should have reached Thirteen,” informed Effie.

“Unless they’re forced to land because of the birds,” Haymitch speculated.

“So Beetee specifically said to send you,” Peeta told Effie. “He wants you in Thirteen. You’re Jurassic World’s operations manager so he needs you there. He said he might have found a way to put an end to this and President Paylor has given him full authorisation to act as necessary.”

“I – “ Effie glanced at Haymitch. “I’ll go. Let me just… They need medical attention and I’ll feel better if I know they’re receiving -”

“I’m fine,” Haymitch cut her off.

“It’s okay, Aunt Effie. I’ll take Mummy and Aunt Jo to the medical centre with Uncle Peeta,” Finn said. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yes,” Effie nodded and dropped a kiss to his head. “You’re a big boy so you take care of them for me, okay?”

“Yes, I will.”

“And you keep Echo close, you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Finn nodded as Haymitch handed the raptor over while Peeta and Katniss watched curiously the small animal now in Finn’s bag.

Peeta led them away into the bomb shelter and once they were out of sight, Effie turned towards Haymitch.

“You need to go too, Haymitch. You’re still not breathing right. I spent enough nights sleeping next to you to know that you’re not breathing normally. Let them check your hand and your neck.”

“Yeah, and the moment I turn my back, you’re gonna leave for Thirteen. I ain’t letting you out of my sight. Not in this kind of danger.”

“The danger will continue to persist if I don’t leave and help Beetee. Please, Haymitch, go with them.”

 “No,” he shook his head.

“But – “

Haymitch rested his hands on her shoulders and turned her around, pointing at the lone hovercraft in the distance, sitting idle with its engine running. Effie had only just noticed its presence.

“You see that? That’s for you. That’s how Beetee and Paylor are going to get you to District Thirteen. They’re desperate enough that the orders for any hovercrafts not to take off are being ignored.”

“Rightfully so - it is a state of emergency and be reasonable, Haymitch. _That_ is a military hovercraft. It’s armoured. That’s not the normal hovercraft I usually take to the park. You know that, too.”

“She needs to go Haymitch,” Katniss interjected. “Effie’s right. That is an armoured hovercraft. The birds you’re worried about… They can’t penetrate that. There are still dangers, of course, and I’m worried for Effie’s safety, too. But this needs to stop and she’s the only one who can help. The army’s laid out land mines in place of the trampled fences over there, though I don’t know how long it’ll hold. Three of the mines have gone off.”

“Besides,” Katniss continued. “Beetee anticipated that you might put up a fight so he told me to tell you that the birds were spotted in a large group mainly over in District Four – they seem to like water – and District Five.”

“Food source,” Haymitch told her automatically.

“Well, the main thing is, the flight from here to the Thirteen should be safe enough. It wouldn’t be such a long flight anyway. Why don't you go with her?”

"No," Effie shook her head. "I'll be fine. Haymitch needs medical care."

"I've survived worse. I know you gotta go," his voice softened as he warmed up to the idea and conceded. "I know it's important and that you're the only one who is of use right now. Call me what you will, sweetheart, but I need you where I can protect you.

"Haymitch," she smiled. "You're sweet. I can protect myself, you know. I have your rifle, after all. Besides, you’re in no state to be doing any protecting. Well, let’s compromise."

Haymitch sighed. “What is it?”

“First, we’ll go to the medical centre. Let them examine you and make sure you are in no immediate danger. You’ve been spat on with _venom_ , Haymitch. Give me a peace of mind, please.”

“And?”

“And after that, we go to Thirteen and we stop this.”

 


	17. Chapter 17

**_ 17 _ **

It was disconcerting to be back underground in District Thirteen. Haymitch thought he had seen the last of the place when they left it to invade the Capitol eight years ago. Next to him, Effie was silent, only the sound of her footsteps could be heard.

"You okay?"

"Yes," she turned towards him, plastering a smile on her face. "Did the injection work for you? How are you feeling?"

Haymitch let it slide, the fact that she had neatly deflected the question back at him. "My chest doesn't feel so tight anymore; easier to breathe."

"That's good. The swelling has reduced, too," she gestured at his neck.

The conversation tapered off once more until they finally reached the room where Beetee was waiting for them. At the sound of the door opening, he swivelled in his chair to greet them with a grim smile.

It was just as Haymitch had remembered it; screens mounted on the walls, computer terminals on the long tables with the corresponding consoles and communication devices surrounding them. It was here that Haymitch stood watching Boggs and Gale led a team to rescue Peeta, Johanna and Annie.

"Come on in! Take a seat," Beetee gestured. "It's just like old times, eh?"

"Hello, Beetee. I deeply apologise for troubling you," Effie said.

He merely smiled at that. "Now, let's not waste any more time. All your dinosaurs have trackers in them, yes?"

"Correct," Effie nodded.

"That's what I hope to hear. I have a plan that might work. You might not approve of it but it is our best chance."

"Let's hear it then," Haymitch dropped heavily onto a chair.

"We should send the mutts out. Hear me -"

"Absolutely not!" Haymitch objected vehemently. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, I am not. Here's the thing, Haymitch,  _we_  can control the mutts. If we send them out, we'll get a say - we get to direct - where they go, how long they'll stay out in the open, what they do, where to attack and when to call them back. Every single step and every single move  _will_  be controlled."

Haymitch ran a hand over his face in frustration. It was preposterous to send mutated animals to battle against engineered animals.

"Will the mutts be able to take down the tyrannosaurus?" Effie chewed her bottom lip. "Do we have mutts big enough for that?"

"We don't need a big mutt, we just need to play it clever and that's where Haymitch will come in – he's our best strategist. If he can mastermind a rebellion, taking the dinosaurs out will be nothing," Beetee peered at him through the top of his glasses. "Besides, the other dinosaurs... Well, while waiting for your arrival, I tried to read as many notes that the MGI had so graciously provided me and my conclusion is that I do not think the other dinosaurs, being mainly herbivores, would put up much of a fight, and you have a larger proportion of herbivores to carnivores according to this statistic."

"It's dangerous," Haymitch growled, "to send mutts out like that. What are we? Gamemakers?"

"Haymitch," Effie rested her hand on his knee. "I understand your concerns but don't think of it that way. If you think of it in the context of the past, you'll never be able to do what is necessary."

"Effie's right. This isn't the arena. We're trying to save people right now. The mutts are our best option, unless you have a better suggestion...?" he paused, allowing Haymitch time to answer and when Haymitch gave a subtle shake of his head, Beetee continued. "Their mutation allows them to have capabilities beyond what our military are capable of doing in  _this_  particular situation. To be frank," Beetee sighed and cleaned his glasses, "I would rather sacrifice the mutts than the lives of Gale's men."

The hopeful faces of Beetee and Effie stared back at him and he knew that he couldn't argue with Beetee's reasoning. Gale had lost two men to the raptors, Mortie had been viciously attacked and torn to shreds at Victor's Village, William had died from the dilophosaurus' venom and there were other countless nameless people that he had seen trampled on and attacked back in Jurassic World, all dead.

With a sigh, Haymitch nodded, giving his assent to the plan.

"Alright," Beetee pushed his chair and rolled away from the screen. "I've managed to get into Jurassic World's system but only on the surface. Given some time, I could probably by-pass the securities you had in place but... In any case, employee code, please."

"You needed her here just for the employee code?" Haymitch muttered darkly. "She could have given you that from the shelter in Eleven - over the phone."

"No, I also need her here to consult on the dinosaurs and I know you'd come along. I need you, too."

"I'm touched," Haymitch told him with a straight face, placing his hand on his chest.

Once Effie had entered her code, the screen lighted up. Multiple red dots, some mapping over each other began to appear on the backdrop of Panem with most of them still congregated at the perimeter around the forest and District Twelve.

"Here," Effie grabbed a laser pointer from the table and circled it around the dot marked as T-1 on the screen. "That's the tyrannosaurus – it's moving slowly towards Twelve."

"He's quite isolated from the others so I suggest we take out the lesser dinosaurs and then focus on the ty – tyrannosaurus?" he turned towards Effie who nodded in affirmation. "Right, tyrannosaurus."

Haymitch scanned the map for the raptors and he saw them in a pack together moving away from Twelve and deeper into the forest.

"Don't discount the raptors. They're as dangerous as the t-rex."

Beetee grunted under his breath, acknowledging it. His fingers danced across the keyboards as he entered various complex commands before grabbing the phone. The line connected him directly to President Paylor's office.

"Madam President, activating the mutts in three… two… one."

He pressed a button to release the wolf mutts first. On screen, Haymitch watched in a mixture of surprise, shock and disbelief. Although Beetee had only released those in District Eleven and Twelve, there were wolf mutts in every corner of Panem and in every district if the markings on the map were anything to go by.

"To protect the districts," Beetee explained when he saw the look on Haymitch's face. "They now form part of our defense protocol. Mutts like these are kept out of sight and away from human interactions. They are only activated in times of… Well, this is one of those times."

"They deserve to know," Haymitch frowned. "Everyone should know that there are mutts in their town, not keep these a secret."

"Imagine the horror that it will cause, Haymitch. These mutts are a necessary evil."

"What about Gale Hawthorne and his men?" Effie interrupted, giving them no chance to argue the topic further. "There are soldiers still in Twelve."

"They have been ordered to retreat to Twelve's shelter until all the mutts that I have sent out are recalled back to base. They'll have to sit tight for now and keep out of the fray. Alright, now I'm going to send the wolves some reinforcement now."

"Tigers," Haymitch breathed out in amazement as the second type of mutts was released.

The mutts were identifiable by their black markings on the screen. The black dots were moving steadily closer to the red and it was almost fascinating to see the black swarming the red before they vanished, signifying that the dinosaurs were dead.

"We've got some," Beetee announced triumphantly. "We'll clear out the forest in no time."

Neither of them realised that Effie had left their sides.

XxX

After dinosaurs, nothing much surprised her but when she slipped her hand into her pocket to find that her phone made it through with her after all that had happened, Effie was a little surprise.

Getting through the lines to Eleven's bomb shelter was a challenge in itself and when she finally heard Katniss' voice, Effie wanted to cry in relief. Katniss, on the other hand, was not thrilled by Effie's request.

"Please, please, you have to help," Effie whispered. "It's on her right hind leg, Katniss. You have to take it out. It's just a small chip but you should be able to find it."

Effie pursed her lips when Katniss protested.

"She's already not allowed into the bomb shelter and I understand the rationale for it, I really do. She will die, Katniss. The mutts are hunting down  _every_ single dinosaur. Right now, they're targeting those that are in the forest and still in the wild. It will only be a matter of time before Beetee narrows the search field to those that made it to the district. But we'll still have time to save her. Please, I'm begging you."

"Effie, even if I take the chip off her and even if she made it through this, you can't expect to keep her with you as a pet," Katniss pointed out.

Effie paced the room in agitation.

"I  _know_ but she has never harmed a soul. She saved all of our lives in Twelve so now I have to save hers. As to what I would do with her… Let's get to that later."

"What about the small one – the one in Finn's bag?"

"Don't worry about Echo. He's born in the wild – he doesn't have a tracker on him. But Baby Bop… Yes, thank you, thank you, Katniss! Just make a small incision… I don't know if it would work but if you can try to discreetly palm off a few morphling from the medical centre so she wouldn't -"

"Let me figure it out," Katniss told her and hang up.

XxX

"I'm going to send the birds of prey out," informed Beetee just as Effie quietly entered the room.

She took a seat behind Haymitch who glanced at her questioningly. Effie shook her head imperceptibly. She would tell him later when they were alone but not with Beetee in the room with them

"Are the birds of prey for the pterodactyls?" Effie inquired.

"Yes certainly."

Haymitch never took his eyes off the screen as Beetee controlled several birds, dictating their flight paths straight to the flock of pterodactyls in District Four and Five.

"It's working so far, isn't it?" Beetee glanced behind to seek validation. Haymitch lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug. It was still too early to tell.

Haymitch had to admit though that the red dots had begun to shrunken in size and they were slowly disappearing off the radar. With this small success and when Beetee started flicking through another screen, searching for an appropriate type of mutt, Haymitch finally played an active role in choosing the mutts to be released

"What's that? That some kind of scorpion or somethin'?"

"Yes, except they have been mutated to twice its size," Beetee explained, "with much more powerful pincers and venoms that are twice more poisonous."

"Send that to take out the Dilophosaurus then," Haymitch instructed. "You can fight venom with venom and they are about the same size, more or less. You can use those scorpions to take out other small-sized dinosaurs, too – still got plenty of them left," he gestured at the screen.

The entire plan was unorthodox, crazy even but it was working so Haymitch had nothing to say against it anymore. The bird mutts were called back once the pterodactyls' problem was tackled and if Haymitch had been looking at their screen – which he purposely hadn't – he would have seen the same pink bird that had skewered Maysilee.

It was another hour with Haymitch and Effie both watching different screens anxiously and Effie guiding Beetee to the best of her ability on the kind of defence and attack behaviour each dinosaurs was likely to exhibit so he could decide on the appropriate form of attack. He carefully directed and manoeuvred the mutts; calling back those that had expire its uses and writing off those damaged during the fray.

"How are we on this breakout?" Plutarch's booming voice echoed around the room as he burst in. "What a mess! What a terrible, terrible mess."

Effie jumped, startled at his sudden appearance. Fulvia entered a few seconds after him, sporting bruises on her face and arms. Plutarch had a head wound which was wrapped with a bandage.

"Took you long enough," Haymitch mumbled.

"I apologise but we were attacked by a flock of pteranodon, nearly impaled me to my seat. What a nightmare! Our hovercraft nearly crashed too. But it wasn't long after we landed – and I use that term rather lightly - that the birds flew away. How peculiar," he commented. "And that was when we began the trek to Thirteen."

"It was a long walk," Fulvia added as she collapsed on a chair, exhausted.

"Well, how are we doing on this? I have been informed by Gale Hawthorne that you required the assistance of mutts. I must say, Beetee, that method did not cross my mind but I often give credit when credit is due so good job, my man."

"Mutts, yes," Beetee nodded, unfazed by Plutarch's demeanour. "You'll be glad to know that we have the situation under control."

"Good, good. That's excellent," Plutarch hummed in approval. "It's exactly what I want to hear."

"We're down mostly to the carnivores. They're the problematic ones; six raptors, one tyrannosaurus and ten dilophosaurus," Effie briefed him. "We're tackling the remaining Dilophosaurus first. From their position on this map, it would seem that the six raptors have regrouped and form their pack once again which would mean that taking them out would require all of our efforts."

Being pack hunters meant that the Dilophosaurus, like the raptors, were all found in a group together but unlike the raptors, the Dilophosaurus relied mainly on their venom to maim their prey with no complex attack manoeuvres. Due to this, they were surprisingly easy to take out. They were viciously attacked and never stood a chance against the scorpion mutts whose large pincers were enough to tear and shred their victims.

"Now the t-rex," Fulvia chimed from where she was seated.

"How do we take it out?" Effie asked, looking at each of them in turn.

Perhaps it was his head wound but Plutarch merely stared at her. For a former Gamemaker, she expected him to at least have some inkling on how to go on about it.

Haymitch leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his chest with a contemplative look. "Send the tracker jackers," Haymitch ordered finally. "Make sure they hunt the tyrannosaurus then send the… send the lizard mutts."

He hated the lizard mutts but now wasn't the time so he pushed all thoughts of Finnick out of his mind.

"Why the lizard?"

"Seemed poetic to end a lizard monster with a lizard mutation," he shrugged.

"They're shaped like humans with sharp claws, oddly enough, so they could go near the tyrannosaurus where we can't. I think I'm beginning to understand what Haymitch hoped to achieve. The lizard mutts can kill it  _after_  the tracker jackers have stung the beast. Hallucinations, disorientations, yes, it will make it easier to bring it down. Hopefully, the quantity of tracker jacker venom that could cause severe disorientation in humans could at least have the same effect on the tyrannosaurus. Smart plan, Haymitch, it is definitely worth a shot."

Haymitch did not bother to acknowledge Beetee's compliment. He wasn't one to take a compliment and even if he was, he would not take it until the tyrannosaurus had been killed. Even so, they would still have six raptors to deal with.

 _How apt,_  he thought. It all started with raptors escaping from their containment and it felt appropriate to end the whole mess with the raptors dead, hopefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of Beetee's idea and will Haymitch's plan with the tracker jackers against the t-rex work? I hope you like this chapter and please leave a review.
> 
> Two more chapters left to go!


	18. Chapter 18

**_ 18 _ **

The buzz of the tracker jackers made the tyrannosaurus paused. It scanned the air to find the source of the noise. When the mutts came into view, the tyrannosaurus raised its head, mouth wide open and snapped its jaws, which Haymitch thought was foolish since it accomplished nothing except to trap a few tracker jackers inside its mouth.

It shook its head and opened its jaw, letting out a low moan.

"I think it's been stung in the mouth," Plutarch commented. "Let me just bring up the T-Rex's vitals so we'll be able to monitor. Beetee, you'll need to activate that system."

While Plutarch was setting that up with Beetee, on screen, the tyrannosaurus tried to swat the tracker jackers that had surrounded him with its two tiny front paws. It was useless, naturally. The beast stomped the earth, crashing through trees and foliage as it tried to make its escape.

"It's almost pitiful, isn't it?" Effie said quietly.

"Almost," Haymitch granted her that. "Beetee, you need to send in more tracker jackers. We need to speed it up. Is there any way you can control them to attack from its belly? I think the skin isn't as thick on its stomach as the other part of its body."

"They will know," Plutarch answered before Beetee could. "These mutts are not robots. They have been enhanced and mutated but they also retain their animal instincts."

In the end, there was no need for them to wait for the mutts to figure out the tyrannosaurus' weak point because it was started to sway on its feet, showing signs of disorientation. Its mouth was slack and hung open slightly with saliva drooling out from the side of its jaw.

Haymitch waited for another good ten minutes, watching the continuous attack of the tracker jackers with their stingers before he ordered, "Send in the lizard mutts, now."

The lizard mutts came out of nowhere, slithering past the trees and jumped on the tyrannosaurus. Some skittered on their four legs to circle the tyrannosaurus, waiting and watching. They were still as ugly as Katniss had described them

"Oh god," Effie stared, covering her mouth with her hand.

Neither Effie nor Haymitch had ever seen the lizard mutts with its human like attributes. They had heard about the mutts from Katniss and from Peeta, and to see the mutts brought the horror to the surface.

Haymitch could almost certainly understand how Finnick was overpowered in that sewer and ultimately slain. Their jaws were designed to decapitate their victims with one bite and Finnick had not been attack by just one mutt, he was outnumbered.

On screen, in a swift synchronised move, two lizard mutts opened its jaw, sunk its teeth on the tyrannosaurus' hind legs and pulled hard. The dinosaur stumbled and fell, and that was all it took for the others to surround it. The attack was vicious and brutal. The tyrannosaurus was decimated and clawed by the powerful sharp talons of the mutts.

The monitor showing the tyrannosaurus' vitals beeped incessantly when it had been stung. The portion showing its heart rate had spiked up but now it showed a single straight line. The red blot marked as T-1 disappeared from the screen.

"Order them back," Plutarch commanded. "The threat's gone."

"And with it, a million dollar of investment," Fulvia said quietly, shaking her head.

Haymitch pierced her with a cutting glare.

XxX

"You've read from the MGI's notes that raptors hunt in pack, yeah?" Haymitch queried Beetee. It was important for everyone in the room to know how velociraptors operate. "Right now, they're all together so I suggest that you break them apart; isolate them from each other. It'll be easier to take them out individually."

"Good idea. I should be able to do that," Beetee nodded confidently.

Beetee brought out the wolf and tiger mutts out again; two of each to one raptor, forcing the raptors far apart from each other.

The screen had been split and they were able to observe from view of one of the wolf mutts. Haymitch watched as the mutts and the raptors engaged in a fierce battle. The raptors tried to regroup and to get into formation but each time they tried, the mutts pushed them further away.

Alone, their instinct was more to flee than to fight. Two of the raptors tried to run. They turned around, their long tail swiping violently towards the mutts, taking it out but it was only a small victory. Each raptor was still surrounded by the remaining mutts and they did not get far before the tigers mutts pounced on them. Blood gushed out of open wounds from where the claws from the tiger mutts had pierced through them. The raptors thrashed desperately and tried to shake off their attacked. Even as the tigers retreated, the wolf mutts that had been circling and waiting approached the raptors, clamping their jaws on the raptors' throat, killing them.

"The raptors… They've no idea how to deal with the mutts. They've never seen anything like it before. It can't adapt, not this fast. Even their primal instinct helping them survive this," Haymitch noted. "There were no mutts 65 million years ago."

At another area not that far from the two dead raptors, the tiger mutts were keen on playing with their victims so it attacked and retreated, over and over again which aggravated and frustrated the raptors. Once the game had gone on for too long, the tigers would pounce on the raptor and bite its throat, choking and suffocating it.

One by one, the raptors fell. Two became four until finally all six red markings indicating their existence vanished from the map.

"It's over," Effie breathed, pressing her forehead on Haymitch's shoulder. She sagged against him in obvious relief as he embraced her, holding her close to him. "They're all dead."

"No, it's not," he ran his fingers through his hair. "There are still dinosaur eggs in the restricted area of Jurassic World."

Plutarch, standing at the far end of the room talking to Fulvia did a double take at the mention of dinosaur eggs. He seemed genuinely surprised that Haymitch knew of it.

"Those eggs need to be destroyed and don't argue with me on this, Plutarch," Haymitch warned.

"Haymitch is right," Beetee agreed. "I can take care of that quite easily from here. Besides, not all the dinosaurs are gone. That map is zoomed in to the raptor's location," he told them. With two fingers, he pinched the screen and zoomed out.

He wasn't lying. There were still red markings moving across the map. There weren't many. Effie could count them on her fingers.

"The ones that are left are small in size and generally harmless," said Beetee, "but we should leave no stone unturned."

Plutarch laughed; a low rumble that was severely misplaced in the room. He looked at each of them. "Surely that's not necessary. We shall capture them and – "

"No," Beetee interrupted before he could say anything else. "No, Plutarch. Enough is enough. When you approached me with this idea, I told you to drop it but you went ahead with it. For a short while, it was a success but it's proven to be a costly project and I'm ending it."

"Now, listen, it's not your call to make. I –"

"If you're unhappy, you can take it up with President Paylor," Beetee told him casually, folding his arms across his chest. "I assure you, she might have backed your idea for the merits it posed previously but she's no longer on board. You can't keep them alive in the park again, Plutarch. The park is connected by land to the rest of Panem. It's not isolated and it's not an island on its own. It's too dangerous to recapture and cage them. If you can find me an island far away from Panem and from human civilisation, then yes, I might consider capturing them."

"We can't afford it, time-wise," Effie rationalised.

For months, anyone who had referred to the dinosaurs as mutts found themselves corrected by her and she kept telling Plutarch again and again that the assets in his parks were animals. Since Beetee had unleashed the mass slaughter, Effie had closed up. She became guarded.

She forced herself to change the way she think and the way she viewed those dinosaurs or she would never be able to stomach any of this. They were assets, not animals. They were assets. It was easier to think of it that way. Haymitch had taught her this a long, long time ago – never get attached.

Not animals, just assets.

"Don't get me wrong, Plutarch, I'm not against the idea of moving those that are still alive to some place isolated. After all there, they're all herbivores," she peered at the screen. "Except we don't have time, Plutarch. It could take weeks and months. Herbivores may not eat humans but if they feel threatened and provoked, they  _will_  attack to defend. You and I both know this, and every second we waste arguing, the more danger people will be. I'm sorry, Plutarch, even if you can find an island, you'll need containment units strong enough and safe enough. We simply do not have the logistics and necessary man power right now."

"And if you do, you'll need to argue that case with President Paylor. She's very unhappy," Beetee added.

Haymitch watched the arguments unfold with his arms crossed, a frown on his face.

"Even if you release it in the wild, it's still dangerous. They can breed, and then what? The island would be overpopulated. Their instinct would kick in - they'd migrate to find a better place for survival. Have you ever considered if they were return to Panem? I don't think we are ready to co-exist with dinosaurs yet. They were extinct for a reason. Perhaps, co-habitation was never part of nature's work."

"I concur with Haymitch on this," Beetee added. "There is no other alternative. Now, I suppose, we are all in agreement?"

Nobody said anything and Beetee took their silence as their assent.

"All of you have been through an ordeal. Haymitch and Effie, you both need rest. You look like you need it. You should be able to find a compartment. Plutarch and Fulvia, perhaps, the hospital wing should be your next destination. When this is over, I will let you know. Now, please, let me work."

XxX

Soldiers loomed in every corner, patrolling the corridors and giving assistance to the refugees. One of the soldiers had taken the task of guiding Haymitch and Effie down one hallway to another. The compartments that had been left bare after most of Thirteen's citizens migrated out of the district following the end of the war was now filling with occupants once more.

Nurses scurried past them to attend to injured patients. Effie craned her neck to look at a nurse and then back at Haymitch. He shook his head.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "Just need some rest."

"Here," the soldier stopped in front of a door. "This one will do. We will broadcast any announcement to keep you appraise of the situation."

"Thank you," Effie nodded as she slid the door open, letting Haymitch enter first.

Haymitch made a beeline for the sink, turned on the tap and gulped down the clean water to quench his thirst.

"You want to drink, sweetheart?"

"No, you go ahead," she responded.

Effie took her time taking everything in. Nothing had changed. The walls were still grey, the beds were still small and if minimalist was the fashion trend they were trying to pull, then Thirteen excelled in it.

"Bed looks good," Haymitch said, walking over.

A low chuckle escaped her lips. "You hated their bed."

"It looks good when you're tired," he shrugged.

Effie stood in front of him, blocking his way when he made a move towards the bed with the full intention of crashing on it. Her fingers work with precision and years of familiarity to undo his buttons and unzip his pants.

"You're not even going to kiss me? Get me in the mood?" he teased, dipping his head to capture her lips. "I thought you like foreplay, sweetheart."

"Shower first, Haymitch," she pursed her lips. "We're covered in dirt and grime, and no matter how much you kiss and touch me,  _I'll_  never get in the mood when we're both so dirty."

"Are you sure?" he arched an eyebrow, ready to accept the challenge. "Cause I'm sure I can - "

"Just a minute ago, you were ready to sleep," she narrowed her eyes. "Let's just shower and then...we sleep until it's time to go home."

"Hmmm," he hummed. His arm circled her waist and he pulled her towards him, resting his head on her shoulder. "Come to bed. We can shower later."

Going to sleep was a good plan and a very tempting one at that. After hours of running around in the juggle in her heels, her feet were aching and as much as Thirteen was not her favourite place in the world, at least they were safe here. They could afford a few hours without having to worry about being attack or eaten. Johanna, Annie and Finn were safe, too. That was another thing they didn't have to worry about.

"We need rest," she rubbed her hands up and down his arms. "I know you're tired and your muscles are aching but trust me, you'll sleep better when you're clean."

They spent a long time in the shower helping each other wash up and scrubbing the thick layers of filth from their skin punctuated with intermittent lazy kisses. As he ran the sponge over her body, Haymitch took his time kissing her. Effie was contented to merely stand under the shower with his arms wrapped around her and having him hold her close.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Haymitch paused before he turned her around to face him. His tall frame blocked off the water spraying from the shower and when she looked up at him, he cupped her cheeks.

"What's the matter?"

"I should have listened to you a year ago when you said the very idea of Jurassic World was crazy. You always had a scarily accurate sixth sense when it comes to detecting danger and I should have - "

"Forget it, sweetheart. It's happened," he cut her off. Haymitch reached for the towel and wrapped it around her. He nudged her out of the bathroom as he towelled his hair dry.

"But all those people that - "

"Get in the bed," he ordered.

She frowned at being bossed around but she let the towel fall to floor and climbed on the bed, settling herself against the wall. Their hair was damp and it would soak through the pillow but Effie couldn't bring herself to care at this moment.

When he lay down next to her, Effie adjusted herself, resting her head against the familiar nook below his collarbone and sighed in contentment when his arms came to wrap around her petite torso.

"When we leave, when I reappear back outside, I will face a lot of backlash," she spokr quietly. "I'm the Operations Manager so they'll hold me equally accountable. There will be a lot of media attention and people that I have to answer to."

"I know."

"You don't like that. You hate attention and since you're associated with me..." she let the sentence trailed off. "The media are banned from Victor's Village but I know them and I know that they'll wait around the district in case you leave the house and - "

"What's your point?" he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"I've gotten you in enough trouble already. I should stay in the Capitol for a while until the dust has settled, make myself visible there. That way they will leave District Twelve alone. They will leave you alone. I'll still call you, of course, but I just think it's best if we - "

"No," he shut her up. "You're trying to be honourable and it's unbecoming."

"How rude!"

"It's true. Stop tryin' to play the hero. You're staying with me. You said so yourself - the media are banned from Victor's Village. They can't touch you in my house. We'll stay in until they get bored. Besides, I know just a few things to do with you to pass the time," he wriggled his eyebrows.

"You're insufferable," she hit his chest lightly but there was a smile on her face. "I still have to answer to the public. They would want to know what happened."

"So do a press conference with Plutarch and Fulvia. Tell Panem what happened back in the park. Tell them the truth. When that's done you come back to me. You don't let the reporters hound you. One interview and that's it, you understand?"

"Yes," she nodded and fell silent before she spoke up again. "I love you, Haymitch."

"I know. You're a pain, sweetheart, and you never listened to me but you're alright."

She grinned and buried her face in his chest, inhaling the smell of cheap soap. She decided she didn't like the smell on him back then and she didn't like it now. It reminded her of times filled with turmoil and turbulence. She liked the smell of her lavender soap on him and she couldn't wait to go home.

"I called Katniss," she whispered just as his breathing had begun to even out. His hand twitched and he blinked his eyes open again. "Baby Bop has a tracker on her and I asked Katniss to take it out."

Haymitch lifted his head off the pillow to look at her. "I forgot," he admitted. "She okay?"

"She should be. Ten minutes after I ended the call with Katniss, I saw Baby Bop's tracker disappeared off Beetee's screen."

"What 'bout Echo?"

"He's born in the "wild". He wouldn't have a tracker."

"Good," he let his head fall back on the pillow.

"What are we going to do with them, Haymitch? We can't keep dinosaurs. We have no cover story for them. Beetee's destroying all the eggs in the restricted area. There won't be any more dinosaurs after this. What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know, Effie," he sighed. "Go to sleep, sweetheart. I'm exhausted. We'll think about Echo and Bop when we wake up. Give me an hour to sleep."

She pressed a kiss on the corner of his mouth and settled back against him, staring at the grey walls until she eventually fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a slightly longer chapter so I hope you've enjoyed it. No more T-Rex, no more Raptors, the only dinosaurs left are Baby Bop and Echo. Whatever are they going to do?
> 
> One more chapter left! Please leave a review :)


	19. Chapter 19

** 19 **

For the second time in eight years, Victor’s Village was left relatively unharmed from the tragedy that befell the district. The district was quiet with only a handful of citizens back home to clean the streets and rebuild their home, again.

The day they arrived back in Twelve, Effie had thoroughly gone through Jurassic World’s financial profits and pledged a generous sum of money to the rebuilding and cleaning of District Twelve and District Eleven. She funnelled the finances in, keeping the source of it quiet. If the people knew, they might not accept it.

Let them think it was from the government, Effie had said.

Johanna emerged from the house carrying a pail filled with water and brought it over to Peeta, standing at the entrance of the village. An empty pail was near his feet and as Johanna neared, she splashed the water she was carrying against the tiled pathway stained with Mortie’s blood.

Haymitch had offered to help but they insisted that they would do it. With Johanna, it was more of a need to do something than actually helping out of the goodness of her heart. So Haymitch had retreated to his front porch with a drink in hand and Effie curled up next to him, her head pillowed on his shoulder and her arm slung heavily across him.

Quietly, they both watched Finn. He was sitting on the front steps with Echo hopping incessantly in front of him.

"Ready?" Finn asked. "Go!"

He threw a cube of meat up in the air and broke into a grin when Echo launched itself upwards to catch the treat. Finn threw his head back and laughed in delight, the sound of it caught Johanna’s attention. She looked back, throwing Haymitch a pointed look and jerked her head at the dinosaurs; Echo with Finn and Baby Bop at the side of the house.

With a heavy sigh, Haymitch extricated himself from Effie’s embrace and made his way over to Finn.

“It's time," he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder gently.

Finn tensed visibly and then stared pleadingly at him. “Five more minutes?”

“That's what you said fifteen minutes ago, Finn. Come on - don't make it difficult, yeah?"

“Finn,” Annie gave a note of warning. “We talked about this.”

With the air of a petulant child, Finn stood on his feet, a small pout on his lips. He dusted his pants and very carefully lifted Echo off the ground before walking over to where Baby Bop was. It was a norm by now to let Echo ride on the triceratops and it did just that as Finn led them away, saying, "Come on, we're going for a walk.”

“They will be okay,” Effie hurried over falling in step next to the boy. She stroked Baby Bop’s frill. Finn said nothing as if he knew that Effie was only saying that to convince herself more than him.

They walked side by side. Behind them, Haymitch and Johanna who had abandoned the cleaning followed them. They walked round to the back where Katniss was waiting.

“Lead the way, Katniss,” Haymitch gestured.

Together, the group trekked into the forest, leading the dinosaurs with them. “We’re a safe distance away from Twelve,” Katniss paused after an hour, “and we’re not that close to the park either.”

“This’ll do,” Haymitch nodded.

"Are you sure?" Katniss asked. “About them…”

Haymitch shrugged. "I don't know if they'll make it out here but I know they won’t survive back in Twelve. We can’t hide them and we sure as hell can’t domesticate them. Beside, once someone sees them, they’ll make a report or shoot them down after all that’s happened. This is their best chance.”

“I still think it’s a mistake,” Johanna gave her two cents worth. “We could put them to sleep. There are chemicals for that, you know? Figures it might be a painless way to go.”

“We’re not killing them, Johanna,” Effie pursed her lips.

Johanna shook her head irritably. “In the wild, that one could grow up to be a danger,” she nodded at Echo.

“It could or it might not,” Haymitch told her. “Raptors are pack hunters and on its own, they don’t hunt so well. I’ve seen it for myself when Beetee sent in those mutts. Alone, they’re not as deadly.”

“Still risky – that’s all I’m saying,” Johanna crossed her arms.

“Nobody should know about this,” Effie said urgently, looking at each of them in turn to seek their understanding. “If the MGI finds out that two dinosaurs survived this ordeal, Baby Bop and Echo might be hunted down, their blood extracted and someone as ambitious as Plutarch might – “

Johanna threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “And yet, you  _still_  want to let them go.”

“It’s a huge world out there,” Katniss said. “We don’t know what lies beyond or how far it spread. Baby Bop and Echo might never be found again without a tracker on them.”

“We can’t keep them and we aren’t going to kill them, so I think that we should just let them be free. We can do that, can’t we, Aunt Jo? Let them go? Please, it’s the nicest thing we can do for them.”

Johanna huffed but Finn’s steady, unwavering gaze finally moved something in her. She begrudgingly conceded.

“Echo’s a baby anyway. I mean, we can’t even say for sure it’ll live long enough to grow into an adult dinosaur out there in the wild,” she chuckled. Finn looked alarm. “The wild’s a dangerous place after all. And, Echo’s never actually spent any time with any adult raptor before you thought it was cute and adopted it, did you, Haymitch?”

He ignored the jibed but nodded, “Yeah, don’t think it had any contact.”

"Good. The damn thing may not even know how to act like a raptor. You’ve probably tamed it a little, which is not good news for something that’s about to be released into the wild.”

Baby Bop was already wandering ahead, its snout close to the ground as it inspected its surrounding curiously. Echo hopped next to it, chirping as it explored this new territory.

One by one, they turned to leave so as not to alert the animals to their departure. Effie was the last to remain.

She watched them wander further and further away, the humans temporarily forgotten in this unchartered terrain.

Effie felt a twinge of remorse at what had recently happened but at the same time, she couldn’t honestly say she regretted Jurassic World entirely. And perhaps, that was a part of her that ought to be shameful. She had been invested in the park and she had been proud to see the park grew. She had been proud of its success even if it was a short while but in that short moment, she had been blessed with something truly wondrous and been in the presence of something phenomenal, creatures that had once graced the earth millions of years ago.

If she could do it all over again, she would in a heartbeat - perhaps this was what Haymitch meant when he said that she never listen to him – but this time, she would make sure to put her foot down where Plutarch is concern. No carnivores, no meat-eating dinosaurs, nothing that could pose a danger to anyone. Maybe then Jurassic World would have survived longer and maybe then, Panem could truly enjoy the wonders that she had seen in that park and witness the gentle demeanour of Baby Bop, of the triceratopses, the brontosaurus, the apatosaurus.

But it was not meant to be. She shifted her gaze downward, somewhat in defeat, and trudged after the rest. Tomorrow, she would return to the Capitol with Haymitch, and she would answer to the public.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Raptors! Thank you to everyone who stick with this story and leave reviews for me :) thanks for reading and I'd be happy if you leave a review, one last time!
> 
> Look out for my next story - Peace; Nature of A Conquest - coming soon


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